Review: Dandy Gilver & A Deadly Measure of Brimstone

Dandy Gilver & A Deadly Measure of Brimstone by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's 1929. the Gilver household is laid low with influenza and Gilver and Osbourne have a case to investigate the death of an elderly woman called Mrs Addie at the Laidlaw Hydropathic Hotel in Moffat (also Scotland for us southerners). When rumours of scarlet fever circulate, Dandy sees an opportunity to take Hugh and their two boys plus their cook, butler and her ladies maid to the hotel and investigate the death at the same time.

The hotel is run by a brother and sister Dorothea and Thomas (Tot) Laidlaw following the death of their father who founded the hotel. Tot is an oily, smirky man too quick with a wink and a nod for Dandy, whereas Dorothea is a studious woman, and a medical doctor to boot. What is distinctly odd is the clientele, half of them are elderly people like Mrs Addie, clearly there to drink the (disgusting) waters and partake of the various therapies, the other half are Bright Young Things and flappers, all loud voices and cocktails. Then a third group start to arrive, flamboyant and theatrical they are seeking ghosts which are said to haunt the hotel.

After my quibbles with the last two books I think Catriona McPherson is right back on track with this one. A hydropathic spa hotel is so very Agatha Christie and I loved the way in which the different strands were woven together. I even guessed the motive for the murder, although there were also plenty of other things I didn't guess too. Also, we see a lot more of Hugh than usual, and of Grant's theatricality. I still find it absolutely fascinating how Catriona McPherson seems able to write Dandy so convincingly, with the attitude and values of a woman of that era, I have no idea if it is authentic but it feels like the real thing.

I've got 10 ARCs to read and review for NetGalley but I might (who am I kidding, I definitely will) just buy the next book in the series.

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Review: Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses

Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Dandy Gilver gets called by two old friends, Aurora and Pearl Lipscott, women she used to spend idyllic summers with as a child. Her friends' younger sister Fleur, who Dandy remembers as a spirited, imaginative, free spirit who loved to design outrageous costumes and write stories about pirates, is working as an English teacher in a girl's boarding school and has cut off all communications with her sisters and her mother. Can Dandy investigate?

Dandy and Alec toddle off to St Columba's school in Portpatrick, a bizarre mix-up with the headmistress leads to Dandy being mistaken for a replacement French teacher and taken up to the school where she finds Fleur is no longer the colourful vibrant girl she remembers, instead she has become a grey, mousy woman, almost unrecognisable.

St Columba's is unlike any school Dandy has ever known, the girls seem to have lots of freedom and the teachers are a bizarre hotchpotch of waifs and strays. Then one of the girls lets slip that the French teacher leaving mid-term is just the latest in a stream of teachers who have left suddenly to be with their families. Then Fleur claims that she has killed four people - does she mean the missing teachers?

While Dandy is desperately trying to remember French conjugations and fathom out what Fleur means, Alec has found a case of his own. The owner of the local fish and chip shop, an Italian called Joe (Guiseppe) Aldo, has hired Alec to look for his wife who has run off with another man. Joe's daughter is also a student at St Columba's and does not know her mother has left.

I found it a struggle to get into the last novel in this series, this was the opposite I was hooked from the get-go. Intrigued by the glimpses into a halcyon world when Dandy and the three Lipscott sisters would be petted and feted and adored by Mamma-dearest and batty Aunt Lilah in a house which was warm and luxurious and full of lovely things, so very different from Dandy's own austere childhood and subsequent life.

However, much as I enjoyed the reading of this book, I struggle finding satisfaction with the ending. There seemed to be too many plots and too many guilty parties, maybe because I was expecting a somewhat different explanation for what was happening at St Columba's I can't wrap my head around the true explanation? Anyway, I re-read the last two chapters this morning and whilst individually I can grasp the different plotlines, I can't pull them all together. Maybe it's that having so many mysteries wrapped up together seems too much of a coincidence? And yet when I think about excluding one mystery everything unravels because each relies on the other for a building block.

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Review: Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder

Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Our intrepid heroine and private investigator Dandy Gilver is summoned to Dunfermline to investigate the disappearance of Mirren Atkins, granddaughter of Dandy's client who owns Atkins Emporium store. But what she walks into is a multi-generational hotbed of lies and secrets with Mirren and her beau, Dugald Hepburn, grandson of the founder of House of Hepburn, hate rivals of Atkins Emporium. a real Romeo and Juliet romance, which sadly is fated to end just as badly.

I struggled to get into this book, heck I started it two months ago and only read about two and a half chapters before putting it down, the cloying relationships, especially since there appeared to be three Mrs Atkins and one Miss Atkins to keep straight, all variously called by their own names or by their husband's names.

Anyway, I picked it up again last night and got gripped by the death of poor Mirren on the day of Atkin Emporium's Anniversary when the great and the good had come to the store to celebrate. The only reason I gave this three and a half stars rather than four was because I had read something very similar to this plot (being deliberately vague) many years ago. It was either one of those family sagas that were so popular back in the 1970s like Catherine Cookson or Susan Howatch, or I recall one about several generations in New Orleans where one of the lovers drowned when the levee burst (I am going to have find out what that book was now). Anyway, that was a longwinded way of saying I suspected quite early what was going on.

However, Hugh! OMG. Melted.

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Review: The Single Dad's Handbook

The Single Dad's Handbook by Lynsey James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Evan harper's wife Claire died of cancer two years ago. Since then he's been trying to run his business (escorting haunted tours of Edinburgh) and look after his five year old daughter Violet. Except he's not doing well, in fact he's on the brink of breakdown, but all his friends and family seem to want him to do is move on and start dating again.

Violet's first day at school does not go well and in desperation Evan unearths the handwritten book of letters that Claire prepared in advance of her death. Carefully annotated with post-it notes to cover eventualities such as Violet's first day at school, right through to puberty and moving on, the letters are in turns touching and funny.

Then Evan's best friend Hannah returns to Scotland after travelling the world since shortly after Claire's death, she too encourages him to move on and to create a Tinder account, which creates some of the most humorous parts of the book.

Like other reviews I have read, I felt that Claire's letters were touching (very much in the style of P.S. I Love You although she appeared to be obnoxiously knowledgeable and serene, how would she know exactly what to do on Violet's first day when this was their only child? However, I personally found the attitude of Evan's friends and family to be a bit odd. If someone is drowning in sorrow then what is needed is support and friendship, not forcing them onto blind dates FFS.

Also, although there were lots of laugh-out-loud moments, overall I would classify this as a sad book, it's mainly about how Evan isn't coping and how dreadful he feels with only a little glimpse of hope right near the end. I was expecting the book to be more focused on the moving on part. Finally, I'm a snob, I just can't wrap my head around the idea of the male lead telling ghost stories for a living.

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 Taste of Home

A Taste of Home by Heidi Swain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

When Fliss Brown's mother dies at their home in Italy she discovers that they were not alone in the world, she has family living in England that she has never met. Her adopted Italian family persuade her to go to meet her grandparents and reluctantly Fliss agrees, intrigued by her mother's note that she would fit right in there.

When Fliss arrives in the small town of Wynbridge in the Fens, she discovers her only remaining family is a grumpy grandfather who has just had a hip replacement and is suffering from an infection. But strangely, he owns a fruit farm and Fliss has spent much of her life working on fruit farms in Italy following her peripatetic mother. Never one to sit on her laurels, while her grandfather is recuperating she thinks of ways to restore the farm and bring it back to profitability.

Soon Fliss is interacting with the local community, including her grandfather's nursing assistant Eliot, his sister Bec and mother Louise, there is also a mysterious stranger who keeps popping up.

This is, apparently, the eighth book in the Wynbridge series. However, it can definitely be read as a stand-alone.

I liked it but I didn't love it and while I might read another one in the series I probably would only do so if it was on offer. There were too many characters/events where their sole purpose appeared to be to further the plot, maybe if I had read the other books these characters would have come to life more. Also, the 'villain' in this case was signalled so strongly that Fliss just looked a bit dense for not suspecting them previously. Kudos that she didn't believe them but overall if felt a bit clichéd.

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 Me Bad

Make Me Bad by R.S. Grey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Madison is that romance cliché, the small-town virgin librarian who still lives at home with her father and brother (both police officers).

Ben is the spoilt rich kid who was always in trouble with the Police chief (Madison's father) as a teenager. He may have settled down now and started his own law practice in town but there is still a great deal of animosity between him (and all the other rich kids) and the Police. Ben gets into a fight with a former school mate in a local bar, which leads to him being arrested and sentenced to community service.

Madison celebrates her 25th birthday at the library with her gay BFF, her disinterested intern, and an ancient colleague who makes her a birthday cake using spelt. Rock 'n roll her life ain't, then and there she wishes on her birthday candle that her life had more excitement. Then on the way home from the library, clutching the inedible cake because she's too soft-hearted to let her colleague find it in the rubbish, she is attacked by a man wielding a gun and rescued by Ben! When Ben then turns up for community service at the library Madison decides this is A Sign and she enlists him in her plans to tick off a Bad Girl bucket list by getting a tattoo and losing that pesky v-card.

What follows is a predictable rom-com. If you can overlook the clichés this light-hearted romance is perfect holiday reading.

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Review: What Abigail Did That Summer

What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A spooky novella featuring Peter Grant's cousin Abigail.

Abigail is too clever for her own good, invited by an old school friend to a gathering on Hampstead Heath she meets a young boy and stumbles across something odd. Teenagers are disappearing from the Heath and then mysteriously reappearing days later with no recollection of what happened.

With the help of the local talking fox population, who have Abigail under surveillance, her new friend Simon and Fleet, Abigail uncovers the what and the why.

By turns funny, gripping and a little bit scary this will keep you enthralled right to the end.

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Review: The First Time We Met

The First Time We Met by Jo Lovett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine meeting The One on his wedding day? Izzy is working Saturdays at a greasy spoon at Christmas, dodging the sexist comments and dishing out fried bread to all and sundry when she meets Sam. It's love at first sight, but when she plucks up the courage to ask him out she finds out that he is having a pre-wedding breakfast.

Sam and Izzy both move on but neither of them can ever quite forget that first meeting. Seven years later, by chance they run into each other. Izzy is heavily pregnant and they spend an innocent couple of hours in a café talking.

Fast forward another six years and things have changed. Izzy is separated from her husband Dominic, she has a six year old daughter Ruby and a thriving speech therapy practice. Sam's back living in New York with his thirteen year old twins Liv and Barney. After a terrible accident Liv has been physically injured but Barney has developed a debilitating stammer, something twelve separate speech therapists have been unable to help. In desperation, Sam reaches out to Izzy.

What follows is a cross-Atlantic, slow-burn romance, akin to You've Got Mail. Sam and Izzy email each other about Barney's progress and gradually share more and more of their personal lives, but how can they ever be more than just friends when their lives are thousands of miles apart?

I bought this on the strength of reading an ARC of a new book by Jo Lovett, then I was reluctant to start reading because, meeting the love of your life on their wedding day, sounded a bit icky. I had visions of Sam calling off the wedding, or some kind of Bridget Jones OTT behaviour. Of course it was nothing like that at all. It was a charming, thoughtful, grown-up romance and I loved it.

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Review: To Have and to Hate

To Have and to Hate by R.S. Grey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved R S Grey's early books then I had a spate of DNFing them. When I read a positive review from someone with similar issues (here) I decided to buy this book.

Elizabeth Brighton is from a wealthy family but she is determined to make her own way, not least because her mother threatens to cut her off without a penny every time Elizabeth steps out of line. A recent graduation from Rhode Island School of Art she is in New York determined to become a successful artist. Then a frantic call from her mother uncovers the truth, the family is destitute and about to lose everything unless Elizabeth marries Walter Jennings II immediately. Walter and Elizabeth's grandfather founded the world's most successful medical device company, but to avoid the cliché of making and losing billions within two generations they tied the shares up in a trust which can only be broken by two grandchildren marrying (or maybe great-grandchildren). Anyway, Elizabeth's sister was engaged to Walt but she's run off with her chauffeur so Elizabeth is the only person standing between her family and financial disaster.

Their wedding is a hurried affair at City Hall, no rings, no guests and no flowers, Walt is monosyllabic and grumpy. Walt and Elizabeth part ways, never expecting to meet again, until she finds out that she can't rent an apartment without someone solvent co-signing her lease. Of course this is a rom-com with a billionaire so the apartments Elizabeth views are all gross and Walt insists she lives in his palatial four bedroom penthouse apartment instead. Walt might still be grumpy but he is also thoughtful, and an avid art collector.

This was pleasant enough, peppered with lots of rom-com clichés but an easy read. I concur with Corina that it would have been better to have seen Walt's POV, was he socially awkward? Is that why he was rude but also so thoughtful? Who knows.

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Review: Murder Most Fair

Murder Most Fair by Anna Lee Huber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

November 1919 and Verity Kent's Great-Aunt Ilse arrives at Verity's home in Kent with her new maid Frau Bauer in tow. Soon stories of strange men accosting Frau Bauer and fears of what Lord Ardmore might do if he found out that Verity's German aunt had come to the UK lead Verity and Sidney to decide it would be best if they all decamp to Verity's parents' home in Yorkshire two weeks earlier than planned. Verity hasn't been home since her brother's death and she has a fraught relationship with her mother, so this is a big sacrifice on her part.

Then Isle's maid is found dead and secrets are revealed. Was she murdered by the mysterious stranger she was seen arguing with? Was it Verity's younger sister Grace's new beau who apparently has a 'Blighty wound' which invalided him our of the war? Is it a villager convinced she was a German spy? And what is Aunt Ilse hiding?

Although this is yet another well-crafted mystery for Verity and Sidney, the focus of this book is very much on relationships. We learn a lot> more about Verity's relationships with the rest of her family, and how each of them has been affected by the war and the death of her brother Rob. In fact, I would happily have read this with no murder at all just because it advanced everything else so much, all those tantalising glimpses into Verity's marriage and her older brother's disapproval are all brought to the surface and it is very satisfying. Also, a personal thanks that the book does not start with Verity and Sidney estranged as seemed to happen with several of the other books.

Overall, a great instalment in one of my favourite series and I can't wait for 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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Review: Death in Daylesford

Death in Daylesford by Kerry Greenwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Well, do I feel stupid? I read this entire book not realising that Phryne Fisher is theMiss Fisher of the TV series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, D'oh! Although in my defence I don't think I've actually seen an episode.

Miss Fisher is a single wealthy woman. She lives in a large house in Melbourne with her cook, maid/companion Dot, and butler (Mr Butler) and two young school girls (Ruth and Jane) and a young man (Tinker) that she has adopted. She is modern and forward-thinking and is happy to be the concubine of a wealthy Chinese businessman.

In this novel Miss Fisher receives an invitation to visit a spa in the country, one that treats injured soldiers from WW1. Whilst Phryne and Dot are away in the country, Tink and the girls solve a mystery with the help of Dot's fiancé, Sergeant Hugh Collins.

Phryne and Dot arrive in the small town of Daylesford to find it a hotbed of mysteries and sexual tensions. Several women have disappeared over the years and their bodies have never been found. Soon after Miss Fisher arrives a man is killed at the Highland Gathering when he is hit by a misthrown caber. As the body count of young men mounts up, murdered under Miss Fisher's very nose in public, two more women disappear.

To start with, I found the way in which the author over-used adjectives and liked to use long words to be irritating, do I need to have Miss Fisher's turquoise silk robe referred to like that constantly? Can't it just be a robe the second and third time it's mentioned? Also I found the scene between Phryne and her lover Lin Chung a little uncomfortable, along with other incidents/descriptions in the book, I don't know if I'm being overly sensitive and this is just Aussie plain-speaking, or just an attempt to be historically accurate.

However, I am glad I persevered because once Phryne and Dot got to Daylesford the story overtook the writing and the irritant factor dropped considerably. Having not read any of the previous 20 books in the series, I do wonder whether Kerry Greenwood is writing for the TV series (or with it in mind), as the descriptions of what Dot and Phryne are wearing seemed a bit excessive, especially since Dot only seems to wear combinations of brown and beige, ditto the recitation of what they have for breakfast every day! I also found it a bit disconcerting that the action shifted from Daylesford to Melbourne between one paragraph and another without any warning, one minute I was knee-deep in shell-shocked WW1 soldiers and the next Tink was fishing with his old mates in Melbourne.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the unravelling of each of the mysteries, some of them I guessed and some came to Phryne in a flash of inspiration. Any book that contains three murders, two attempted murders, a kidnapping, a drowning, and a secret baby can't be bad.

Overall, I would say I enjoyed this but I suspect the writing style might become repetitive if I read more in the 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: Things Are Looking Up

Things Are Looking Up by Maxine Morrey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Milly is a freelance fashion writer on her way to the interview of her life with British Vogue when her pre-occupation with her mobile phone leads to her being mown down by a London bus. Fast-forward a week and Milly comes out of a coma with cracked ribs, a broken arm, cuts and bruises. Worse, a week in hospital has meant that Milly has missed numerous deadlines and she has lost all her regular columns and writing work. Then to put a cherry on a really poobah week, her landlady serves her notice on the awful flat they share, because Milly clearly won't be able to pay the rent with no work coming in.

Only through her time in hospital does Milly realise that she has prioritised her career over friends, over family, and over love. But when the chips are down the only people there to support her are her family and her ex-boyfriend Jed.

I can only describe this as a mash-up/retelling of A Little Princess, with a smoosh of the film Overboard (which actually is probably a modern, grown-up version of A Little Princess anyway), a whisper of A Christmas Carol and just about every Hallmark movie ever made. Milly was clearly a 'bad person' pre her encounter with the bus, she even missed her nephew's sole speaking line at the school play. She is glued to her phone 24/7 and pays no attention to friends and family. Unfortunately, for me, Milly's road to enlightenment is less of a road and more of a doorstep. Within a day or two of waking up (it seems) bad Milly is no more and now we have caring sharing Milly who wanders around London with her eyes wide open seeing all the parts of London she never had time for before. She talks to random strangers on the bus and in a church (TBH at this point I suspected that there might be some woo-woo higher power at work, but luckily that fear was unfounded), she enters into conversations with the local bookshop owner and the Italian who owns the deli round the corner.

And now Jed, Jed is a self-made millionaire who devotes a lot of time to charity and other good works, he dates a super-model heiress and seems to work from home an awful lot. A self-made millionaire under the age of 30 who only seems to work part-time - He must be a unicorn.

I'm writing this with raging insomnia and so I am being particularly snarky but this novel relies on a series of coincidences to make things work. Is it really likely that one week in a coma would mean that Milly would have missed every single deadline, surely some of her columns would have been monthly? Is it also likely that the entire industry would completely blank her, even after she explained about the coma, and especially when she was always quick to help others out in the past (surely in the Hallmark film this is where all her former clients and mentees would turn up with offers of work, or at least a box of chocolates)? Then because of the aforementioned landlady and having no money and her brother having building work done the only place Milly can stay is in Jed's penthouse apartment? And there's more but I won't spoil things that happen later in the book.

Overall, this was a pleasant enough read, but totally predictable from start to finish, it needed more subtlety, more light and dark. The characters felt too one-dimensional. For example, Milly's brother confiscates her phone, rightly blaming her accident on Milly's obsession with emails and social media. But then later when she doesn't answer four calls from him he isn't the least bit concerned - if I called someone who was glued to their phone and they didn't answer/call me back within a few hours I'd be contacting the police!

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

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Review: Shades of Hate

Shades of Hate by K.N. Banet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Echoed Defiance

Echoed Defiance by Kristen Banet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So ... at the end of the last book we hear people talking off screen and they are remarking on Jacky's likeness to someone. As a reader, to me that wa a reference to Jacky's twin sister who is a human doctor.

At the start of this novel Jacky is contacted by a werecat who has a human asking to talk to her. Turns out the human is Jacky's twin, she and some of the other medical professionals were incensed by the abuse of a female werewolf from the Russian pack, so incensed that they colluded in the murder of the Russian Alpha when he was rushed to the supernatural hospital where they work.

The Russian pack has become too big, too powerful, and the Alpha and his lieutenants are ruling through fear, intimidation, and violence. They murdered the female wolf to stop her from complaining to the North American Werewolf Council and now they are tracking down the Alpha's medical team and terminating with extreme prejudice. When Jacky and Heath defend her sister from the Russian pack they escalate and kidnap Jacky's parents, brother-in-law and two nieces. Now Jacky needs to balance the rules of her new life with her love and loyalty to her human family.

There's no real surprise reveal in this novel, so I didn't see the twist coming as I have with some of the other books - oh, shoot I've just realised that there is at the end and I guessed about 50%, its fast, and furious and violent and Jacky learns a lot about herself and how she fits into the world.

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Review: Broken Loyalty

Broken Loyalty by Kristen Banet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After her encounter with rogue vampires in the last book Jacky is back home in Texas, things are going well but then she starts experiencing rogue werecats running into her territory. They jump in and jump out, never staying long enough for her to catch them and there's more than one. It's clearly a taunt but why?

Jacky might be the newest werecat on the block but she's not stupid, this must have something to do with her family, but what?

This series is starting to get into its stride, the stories are less obvious and the action is as fierce as ever. Jacky's unusual relationship with Heath continues to develop slowly and her fractious relationship with her werecat father and siblings continues to evolve.

On to the next one.

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Review: Last Night

Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eve, Sophie, Justin and Ed have been friends since they were eighteen years old, they may have parted ways when they went to university but they are still close and participate in the weekly quiz at their local pub on a Thursday night. They like to think of themselves as a British version of the characters in the film The Breakfast Club, albeit Justin says he is a gay version of Judd Nelson.

Just before they left for university Ed and Eve had a moment, but, as is often the way, things went awry, and Ed met Hester. Now the gang are in their early thirties, with careers and their own homes, but Eve is still in love with Ed, sometimes they share a moment or a glance and Eve wonders if he still thinks of her like that, but when Hester proposes things are about to change. Eve just didn't realise just how much things would change that night, but tragedy strikes and Eve learns that everything she thought she knew about her friends is no longer true.

There's so much to unpack in this book, growing older doesn't necessarily mean growing up, your best friend may have your back but they aren't always a reliable narrator, good guys can also do bad things, and sometimes your first kiss can be the one!

It sounds odd to say that a book based on a tragedy is a feel good, uplifting romance but it really is. Eve is such a great character, funny, honest, loyal, and genuine. And in their own ways, so are her friends.

Another cracker from a master of contemporary romance.

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

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Review: Three Weddings and a Proposal

Three Weddings and a Proposal by Sheila O'Flanagan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Delphie is living her best life, executive assistant to one of Ireland's wealthiest men she travels the world doing everything from buying an antique bracelet for his girlfriend to reviewing business plans and managing the company's charitable foundation. She's single with her own beautiful cottage by the sea but the rest of her large Irish family won't stop feeling sorry for her just because she's alone. The last straw comes when she is being harangued from all sides because she hasn't named a plus one for her brother's imminent wedding (because they need to write the placecards for the reception FFS). Then a quick trip to Mallorca to hand over said bracelet to her boss brings great news, he wants to appoint her to the Board. Then on the flight home she sits next to her ex, Ed, who left her to work in Dubai.

Then tragedy strikes and Delphie's wonderful life collapses around her shoulders. Could reconnecting with the only boyfriend she ever really loved change everything?

I did really enjoy this story although I felt that the two major plot lines were too obviously telegraphed, or maybe I'm just that good at reading people, or maybe I've just read a scary number of contemporary romances? It was nice to have a 'career woman' who genuinely loves her career and doesn't suddenly decide to settle for something slower-paced, or using a softer, more feminine skill (like opening a cup-cake shop). I liked Delphie and I wanted to be her friend. I don't think I've read any other books by Sheila O'Flanagan but i like her writing and will definitely look out for more from her.

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 House Swap

The House Swap by Jo Lovett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Cassie is a Glaswegian writer who relocated to a small island in Maine several years ago when her children's books became successful. Her wonderful, but pushy, agent wants her to set a new series of her books in London, a city that Cassie has rarely visited. She loves her quaint island with its patchy Wi-Fi and quirky neighbours.

James is a very successful venture capitalist. Determinedly single he is blind-sided when his half-hearted relationship with his girlfriend becomes conflated into an expected marriage proposal and then she won't take no for an answer.

The answer for James and Cassie is Swapbnb, James will swap his swanky flat in Central London for Cassie's rambling house in Maine and vice versa. Cassie and James couldn't be more different if they tried, she is desperate for a baby and intends to try IVF while she is in London, James never wants children. Cassie is sociable and friends with everyone she meets, while James doesn't even know his neighbours. Cassie left pages and pages of notes about her home, her animals, the locals and things to do in the local area, she even bought new bedding and filled the freezer with home-made food for James. James stripped his flat of towels, bedding and food ready for Cassie.

Although their interactions are prickly at first, 'why didn't you tell me there was only Wi-Fi at 3am?', 'why didn't you leave me any sheets or a pint of milk?' type of thing, they tentatively begin a long-distance friendship.

What I really liked about this novel was the maturity of the characters (both late 30s) and the way in which there was nothing forced about the romance. James comes back to the UK for his godson's christening but whereas in a rom-com he would have invited Cassie as his plus-one and the romance would have taken off like a rocket, in this book they meet briefly and chat then he returns to the US. It all feels very organic and grown-up. There's no teenage angst-fest, that's not to say that there isn't tension and 'reasons' but it all feels very real and unfolds over several months.

Just 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: Family and Honor

Family and Honor by Kristen Banet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jacky Leon was changed into a werecat a decade ago after a horrific car crash which killed her fiancé. After falling out with her sire Hasan over this issue she lives in the wilds of Texas running a small dive bar and pretty much keeping to herself. Then, in the first book she is drawn into the supernatural world when the human daughter of the Dallas werewolf Alpha Heath calls on her for protection after an attempted coup. The repercussions from those events have led to the Alpha retiring and moving with his werewolf son and human daughter to Jacky's territory.

Two werecats have now gone missing in Washington state and Jacky's werecat older brother Jabari is investigating on behalf of Hasan and the supernatural council, the fear is that they have been killed by werewolves. Then Jabari goes missing and Jacky is the only family member close enough to investigate. She asks Heath to perform the necessary introductions to the local werewolf Alpha to smooth her way, only for them to discover that four werewolves have also gone missing. This situation has the potential to create a new war between the werecats and werewolves if Jacky and Heath don't find out the truth, and fast!

Another fast-paced book in this series, as with the first book, my only gripe is that to me it was obvious what had happened. But the way in which the story unfolded and the tension was maintained was good.

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Review: The Moment I Met You: The unmissable, romantic and heartbreaking new novel for 2021 from the million-copy bestselling author

The Moment I Met You: The unmissable, romantic and heartbreaking new novel for 2021 from the million-copy bestselling author by Debbie Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Elena Godwin was on holiday in Mexico with her long-term boyfriend, after two weeks away she has come to the conclusion that they are no longer in love and don't have very much in common. An innocent conversation with a fellow tourist at a tour stop creates a frisson of excitement and a hint of something more, when a tragedy changes her life forever. Ten years later, her life changed irrevocably, Elena is approached to take part in a documentary about the events that took place. As Elena recalls the events of that day, she also uncovers a number of secrets that lead her to question the choices she made.

I've been deliberately vague so as not to spoil the story which unfolds through flashbacks and interviews. However, it reminded me strongly of the film Cousins and TBH I pretty much guessed all of the 'reveals' pretty early on. I have a feeling that I've read something similar before but I've looked and can't find the book(s) I'm thinking of.

Anyway, it's Debbie Johnson so the writing was good and the story drew me in, but I wouldn't say it was heart-breaking. I think Elena was just too perfect for me to truly relate, not a doormat precisely but just too nice, too good, too uncomplaining.

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

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Review: Ten Things I Hate About the Duke

Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Victorian re-imagining of The Taming of the Shrew.

Cassandra Pomfret is an ardent feminist and follower of the works of Mary Wollenscraft, the daughter of a Member of Parliament she has strong views and has spoken up, against male speakers, at various public events. Her latest outburst has so incensed her father that he has threatened to send her younger sister home to the country, foregoing her London season, if. Cassandra doesn't curb her tongue.

Lucius Beckinham, sixth Duke of Ashmont, and his friends live a life of dissolution (drinking, gambling etc) and excel at practical jokes such as smuggling a goat into the snootiest ball and letting it loose. Apparently in the first book in this series Ashmont's fiance ran off with one of his best friends which led to a duel.

Cassandra and Lucius knew each other as children, albeit Lucius was much older than Cassandra, and she hero-worshipped him, perhaps even loved him, for years, until his ridiculous behaviour and lack of moral fibre turned her love into disgust.

Lucius and Cassandra encounter each other again when Lucius fires a gun to disperse a fight which spooks Cassandra's carriage horses and causes an accident. Stuck alone in a country inn, with no chaperone and forced to stay and look after her groom, Cassandra will be ruined. But she would rather be ruined than marry a waste of space like Lucius.

Lucius is impressed by Cassandra's spit and fire, even if it is directed at him. He soon comes to realise that she is unfairly denigrated for speaking her mind, just because she's a woman, called names like Medusa and Gorgon just because she doesn't suffer fools. The more he sees of her, the more he comes to admire, but can he make himself someone she could love?

I enjoyed reading this at the time but I must confess the story has been done and redone so many times it is difficult for an author to bring something new to the story and a week after reading the book I struggled to distinguish this from another historical romance I read in the same period.

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Review: Oath Sworn

Oath Sworn by Kristen Banet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jacky Leon is a werecat, turned only a decade ago after a terrible car accident she has claimed a tract of woodland a couple of hours outside Dallas Fort Worth where she owns and runs a small bar. Werecats are solitary creatures and in this reality only werewolves have 'come out' to the humans. Jacky has a difficult relationship with her 'sire' Hasan, who is believed to be the oldest living werecat and over two thousand years old. As a living legend Hasan carries a lot of baggage and so Jacky has never told anyone that he is her father.

Jacky gets dragged into the leadership battle for head of the Dallas Fort Worth werewolf pack when the Alpha's eleven year old human daughter claims Jacky's protection under the Duty she owes to the supernatural community under an ancient treaty which created peace between the species around 800 years ago. Under the Laws werecats are sworn to protect humans who claim protection, even if Jacky wasn't already primed to help a small scared young girl.

Chased from pillar to post by gangs of rebel werewolves, desperate to kidnap the Alpha's daughter (which goes against all supernatural rules of engagement), Jacky is in the fight for her very life. But what everyone seems to have forgotten is that werecats are more vicious and faster than werewolves, there's a reason why it takes a hunting pack of at least wolves to take down a werecat.

I liked this, it was a little predictable, I guessed at the individuals behind the coup quite quickly but I also read a lot of PNR/urban fantasy so I have seen lots of permutations of this type of story, but the story was fast moving and very easy to read. I will definitely read the next book in the series.

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Review: Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors by Catherine Alliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lucy Palmer had it all. A successful career writing cosy mysteries, a theatre-critic husband, a large house in a desirable area of London and two well-adjusted children. But behind the facade lies something sinister, jealousy, controlling behaviour, multiple affairs, psychological abuse, threats and fear.

Lucy's 80+ parents are no longer coping alone, drinking too much and not looking after themselves properly, something needs to be done.

Then Lucy's husband Michael dies suddenly and everything changes.

I fear I have made this sound gloomy, and it really isn't. Sure, some glimpses into Lucy's life feel a little close to the bone, but despite everything Lucy has a loving sister, parents, children, and friends.Her husband and his snobby friends might have looked down on her novels but they paid the bills on the house Michael bought with an inheritance.

I really enjoyed this, I didn't realise I had read and enjoyed another of Catherine Alliott's books before, that book was very different, albeit those characters also seemed to live in lovely, lovely houses LOL.

Thoroughly enjoyable and I could have carried on reading for 100s of pages 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: My Perfect Ex-Boyfriend

My Perfect Ex-Boyfriend by Annabelle Costa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Bailey is a divorced single mother, working as a social worker and barely making ends meet as her ex continues to believe that his band will one day make it big. Then her widowed father announces that he is getting married and he wants Bailey and her daughter Lily to spend the half-term week with him and his bride-to-be at her son's lake cottage.

All is great until Bailey arrives at the cottage to find that her father's fiancé is the mother of her college ex-boyfriend, and the cottage belongs to said ex-boyfriend Noah. No-one made the connection until it was too late, now Noah loathes Bailey and can't stop making snide comments, he even deliberately burns her burger! Bailey can't believe it, Noah is now a successful ER doctor with a swanky car, home in the city, boat and a lake-side cottage while she is sharing a bedroom with her six-year old daughter.

Told through flashbacks we learn how Bailey and Noah met, why they split and why Noah can't forgive her.

This was an enjoyable read, I guess it was a massive coincidence that Bailey's father and Noah's mother meet and fall in love but I thought the set up for why Noah hates Bailey (and why she acted the way she did) was pretty believable.

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Review: Home on Folly Farm: The perfect uplifting romantic comedy for 2021

Home on Folly Farm: The perfect uplifting romantic comedy for 2021 by Jane Lovering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pan(dora) left her home and family in Streatham to run her grandfather's rare sheep breed farm in the Yorkshire Dales. She might be alone and barely making ends meet but she's happy. Well, until her younger sister Cass(andra), her son Haw(thor)ne and his tutor Nat arrive for an extended stay. Dora and Cass are very different, while Dora works 24/7 on the farm Cass has been cosseted by their parents, she's barely held down a job but somehow affords manicures, fake tans and the latest clothes. Dora might have inherited the farm but she has to share any profits 50/50 with Cass which causes friction between the sisters.

Thor is a 12 going on 30 year old with a vlog and over 1,000 followers. Although at first he is appalled at the farm and the lack of modern technology, he and Nat soon start to use the farm as a teaching aid. But there's something very familiar about Nat, he reminds Dora vividly of someone she knew a decade ago, someone she once loved fiercely.

As the farming year progresses the sisters come to live in a sort of equilibrium, Cass is redecorating the old farmhouse while Dora looks after the farm, but will the farm bring them together or tear them apart once and for all?

I really enjoy Jane Lovering's novels. They are quirky, varied and have interesting characters. Unlike many authors, I never know quite where her books are going and this was no exception.

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

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Review: The Knockout Rule

The Knockout Rule by Kelly Siskind
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Isla Slade is a physiotherapist, she works with athletes but has a hard rule - no boxers. Her father, Graham, was a famous boxer now trainer, and watching his fights gave Isla panic attacks, particularly after her mother left them. Graham has suffered his diagnosis for two years and never told a soul. He is paranoid about his illness and swears Isla to secrecy. He also refuses to talk about it.

But now Daddy-dearest has put Isla in a terrible position, he has Parkinson's and needs her to come to Las Vegas with him to work on a new boxer Brick 'Smash' Kramarov, Isla would be there working but also covering up if her father is unwell. Brick is everything that Isla hates about boxing, a huge Neanderthal with a violent persona and a catchphrase 'Brick Smash'. But the reality is somewhat different. Brick's real name is Eric and he is a sensitive man trying to look after his family who really wants to be a linguist, helping immigrants to gain access to justice and medical support.

Brick's agent, Preston, is a smooth-talking, nicely dressed man who wants to date Isla but she keeps turning him down, so he enlists Brick's help as a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac to teach him how to woo a woman who likes poetry.

TBH, I'm not sure why I requested this novel because I don't have a good track record with stories involving boxing/MMA, especially those involving medical professionals. While Isla and Brick lasted longer than most before jumping into bed together they still broke that 'I must not sleep with my clients' rule. Also, I found Isla and Brick's habit of quoting poetry at each other was a bit NA/YA and cringe-worthy.

My other gripe was that everything had to be neatly resolved by the end. Graham's refusal to speak about his illness (which may have been caused by all the blows to the head that he suffered as a boxer), the reasons why Brick needed to fight, the conditions in his contract, all just pfff blown away.

So, better than many other books I have read of a similar genre but there were too many clichés to make it any more than a three star review.

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

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