Review: Begin Again Again

Begin Again Again by Eve Dangerfield
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 64%.

Post-pandemic lockdown Beth Myers us keen to get out of her friend's house and start meeting guys again, she wolf whistles a guy in a car and they arrange a sort-of date/not-date. No-one is more surprised than Beth when the guy turns up, but he is taking enigmatic to an excessive level (my view, not Beth's) refusing to answer questions but forcing Beth to answer his.

Bryon Thomas was almost an AFL (Australian Football League) superstar until he injured himself badly, then his girl left him, and now he works as a labourer with his alcoholic Dad, drinking too much and feeling sorry for himself.

I tried to like this, I really did but honestly Bryon and Beth are just pretty unlikable characters, Bryon in particular, and so I gave up at 64%.

Many thanks to the author Eve Dangerfield for gifting me a copy of this book for review, sorry I didn't like it.

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Review: Strictly on Ice

Strictly on Ice by Helen Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was persuaded to buy this book because the author shares a name with someone I work with, and it was on offer at 99p. I was not disappointed.

Katie Saunders is a former Olympic figure skater whose athletic career was cut short by a terrible accident. She has been forced by a lack of money to appear on a new celebrity ice skating show, very similar to Dancing on Ice but where the celebrities are former sportspeople (eg no soap stars, musicians etc).

Jamie Welsh is a former England rugby player who fell from grace after failing to score the winning try (I think) at the World Cup and being branded a love cheat which led to the failure of his marriage. Although significantly better off than Katie, Jamie has also been persuaded to appear on Strictly on Ice by the money as his luxurious home is not cheap to maintain and the celebrity endorsements have dried up.

The show's producers have decided to liven up the ratings by bringing on Katie's former doubles skating partner Alex Michaelson at the last minute as a judge to fuel public speculation about a potential romantic reunion.

Told partially in flashbacks and partially in real time, watch Jamie and Katie as they make their way through the series and deal with the events of the past.

I really enjoyed this and I would have loved for it to be longer.

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Review: Anybody Out There?

Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Anna Walsh is recovering at her parents' home in Ireland, but is desperate to return to New York, her job working for promoting a kooky cosmetics brand, and her husband Aidan who hasn't responded to her calls or emails.

Since this book is 15 years old, I think it is safe to say that the twist is Aidan and Anna were in an horrific accident and Aidan is dead. TBH I got that vibe pretty early on anyway, and if you have read Rachel's Holiday you would be expecting some sort of twist anyway.

There are plot twists, mad Irish shenanigans, fabulous gay neighbours, evil bosses and numerous sub-plots. Despite the long period since publication the book stands up pretty well and is full of that quirky Marian Keyes writing style.

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Review: Foreplayer

Foreplayer by Kate Meader
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mia Wallace was a teenage college hockey star, but a run-in with one of the hockey supremoes meant she couldn't get a place on a hockey team and lost her chance at the Olympics, something she has hidden from family and friends. She has spent years tutoring girls hockey but is determined to take another crack at qualifying for the Olympic squad and realising her dreams.

Mia's older half-brother Vadim Petrov asks his old hockey pal Cal Foreman to train with Mia to get her ready for the Olympic try-outs. Mia is less than impressed by Cal when she sees him engineering a situation at a wedding to get his girlfriend to break up with him and she sort of anonymously calls him out for his behaviour on social media, which makes for some awkward conversations on the ice.

Mia has her eyes on her brother's agent, the suave, sophisticated, Tommy Gordon. But she thinks a man like him needs an equally sophisticated woman, and she's still hanging on to that pesky v-card, so she asks Cal to teach her the ways of seduction, without revealing the object of her affection.

Mia and Cal start to catch feelings for each other, each thinking the other isn't interested.

As with so many of these stories, there are too many strands which interconnect. There is no reason whatsoever for Mia to like Tommy, who is a bit slimy TBH. Cal doesn't want to put himself out there, because of stuff, Mia's nemesis gets involved with the Chicago Rebels threatening Mia's future etc, etc. It was too much and dragged for me.

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Review: Unperfect

Unperfect by Susie Tate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Mia Lantum (not her real name) is homeless, suffering from cracked ribs and a fractured collarbone, and practically penniless when she gets a job at a small but famous eco-architectural practice owned by Verity Markham and Max Hardcastle in the English south-coast seaside town of Bournemouth as an IT tech support person.

Max is a big, brash, grumpy, Northern architectural genius, he takes one look at Mia with her (dyed) jet black choppy hair, black eyeliner, and tatty black clothes and labels her a teen, emo freak, which is a bit insulting for a woman nearing thirty, he is resistant to change and technology but begrudgingly appreciative of the changes Mia makes to the practice's systems.

Max terrifies Mia, whose injuries are not an accident, but under his large, angry exterior is a kind, caring man, and when Mia falls ill, it is Max who rides in to the rescue.

From sulky teenage stepsons, gruff architects, caring A&E doctors, kooky vegan Reiki practitioners and surly pub landlords these characters just jump off the page.

Words cannot express my joy at a new Susie Tate novel. There is something about her quintessentially British characters, their quirkiness, their real-life issues that just resonates with me. Suffice to say, I didn't start reading this until gone midnight and had finished it before lunch the following day. My only regret is that I will have to wait ages for Yaz and Heath's story. For fellow fans of Susie's books we also get to see (briefly) Kira, Barclay and Sam.

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

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

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Review: The Return

The Return by Anita Frank
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

First let me say that I found the blurb for this book very misleading - I even went back and reread it after I was half way through the book and I stand by my views.

This is what I thought the book was about based on the blurb. (view spoiler)[An estranged couple, maybe he was abusive, physically or mentally, or maybe it was a marriage of convenience and he was cold, he goes off to war and promises never to come back. He has an epiphany and returns determined to win back his wife and child. (hide spoiler)]This is not that book. (view spoiler)[Also, the book is all about Jack's return from the war, which doesn't happen until two-thirds of the way through the book, literally 66% on my Kindle!, and there is very little prior to that about Jack during the war. (hide spoiler)]

Frankly, this was disappointing. I would describe it as a Catherine Cookson novel with more details about farming techniques and set in the Southern Counties. Or maybe a poor man's Thomas Hardy set in WW2.

Since the blurb is so misleading I don't think I can even go into details about the plot, suffice to say it was pretty predictable (actually now I think about it there are some very strong similarities to Far From the Madding Crowd) from start to finish. Told in alternating time frames in 1939 and 1945 we see how Jack Ellison meets and marries Gwen before he goes off to war, and then when he returns. I didn't find Gwen a particularly sympathetic character, she was naïve and stupid both pre-war and after the war ended. Jack was more sympathetic but we didn't see enough of his POV.

I am surprised at all the gushing reviews from other authors, but then I always seem to oppose the majority.

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 Mistletoe Pact

The Mistletoe Pact by Jo Lovett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Dan and his sister Sasha's friend Evie make a pact one Christmas Eve that if she is still single when she is thirty, they will get married. Fast-forward to Evie's thirtieth birthday celebrations in Las Vegas and she and Dan wake up together in the honeymoon suite after one too many green cocktails. Laughing the marriage off as a drunken escapade they get a quickie annulment.

Told partially in flashback over the years and looking to a near future without COVID, we see Evie and Dan dancing around each other at family parties, weddings and Christmas celebrations in the past and in the future, can they ever stop being just good friends?

I enjoyed this book, when have I never loved a Jo Lovett book? But I have to say I didn't really engage with either Evie or Dan, the chapters alternated between their POVs but their 'voices' weren't different as I was reading the book.

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

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Review: A Rogue's Company

A Rogue's Company by Allison Montclair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge own and run London's first dating agency, they are taken aback when they are approached by a young black man seeking a wife, realising that their business model has been very narrowly focused on white British people. But ever willing, Iris and Gwen endeavour to find Simon Daile a suitable wife, despite Gwen's misgivings that Simon is lying to them.

Then Lord Bainbridge (Gwen's dictatorial father-in-law) returns from an extended trip to Africa, within mere hours he has sacked little Ronnie's nursemaid and countermanded all Gwen's (and her late husband's) plans for Ronnie's education locally, rather than the hateful boarding school that Ronnie loathed. There is mystery surrounding Lord Bainbridge's return, his nightly excursions to the Livingstone Club, and the mysterious death of an African servant, whose body was found close to the club.

I had certain expectations as to how this was going, and I was totally wrong! This was a clever, interesting mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed. We see more of Iris' backstory, and her romance with the East End gangster Archie Spelling has its ups and downs.

This series does not disappoint and I can't wait for the next one.

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Review: The Engagement Arrangement

The Engagement Arrangement by Jaci Burton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Brenna Bellini's family own a vineyard and wedding event business. She and her father run the vineyard while one of her sisters is a wedding planner and the other manages the finances. When one of Brenna's friends organises her wedding at the vineyard and asks Brenna to be a bridesmaid, she is thrilled, until that is she discovers that her ex-husband Mitchell with his new wife and Brenna's arch-nemesis Allison are not only attending the wedding, but Allison is the matron of honour.

In order to head off Allison's insults and pity at still being single (and living with her parents), Brenna persuades Finn Nolan, a cowboy who works for her father, to be her pretend fiance for the long weekend of the wedding.

Finn has been in love with Brenna for ever, so he jumps at the chance to show Brenna how could they could be together, and he'd do anything to protect her from Allison's spiteful barbs.

So the book I requested from NetGalley had a modern, pastel-coloured, drawing on the front. It gave off a modern, humorous, kooky vibe. However, the cover of the book on Goodreads reveals its true personality much better, and, TBH, I would not have requested a book with such an old-fashioned vibe from the cover.

I must confess I have no idea what an Irish cowboy could possibly do in a vineyard but I let that slide. Finn and Brenna gave off a very old-fashioned vibe and I didn't really feel a connection to either character. I persevered with reading this but TBH I could easily and happily have given up after 20%.

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

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Review: Celebrations at the Chateau: A cosy feel-good read to curl up with this winter

Celebrations at the Chateau: A cosy feel-good read to curl up with this winter by Jo Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fliss and her two older sisters travel to France to see the property their grandfather left in his will. Never having even heard about the property they are expecting a holiday cottage of some description, not a full-blown chateau. Unfortunately, the sisters' plans to sell the chateau are thwarted when they discover they have a sitting tenant, not only that, but they have to pay this tenant a monthly stipend otherwise the chateau reverts to the previous owners!

When her sisters return to England to their jobs and families Fliss is left in France to try to resolve the situation, not helped by the moody guy next door or the hostile townspeople. A chance broken-down car outside the chateau offers Fliss the opportunity to let a family spend the night and that gives her the idea of starting a bed and breakfast operation, assisted by her teenage nephew who has been excluded from his school in England for selling drugs.

Fliss has always felt herself to be an underachiever, hampered by dyslexia at school, she has held a series of fairly menial jobs, when she got the opportunity to buy the café she worked in, she was too timid and ended up working for the new owners instead, and her long-term relationship appears to have hit the rocks as soon as she mentioned the future possibility of children. But what seemed to Fliss and her sisters as lack of direction is perfect training for running a chateau. She can direct cars into parking correctly, she can cook breakfasts for lots of people, she knows how to clean, and she knows how to grow vegetables.

Jo Thomas has freely admitted that this book is inspired by the delightful TV series Escape to the Chateau and this is a charming story wound around that delightful premise. I will warn you that the frequent descriptions of amazing food will have you salivating all over your Kindle though!

This might be (100% definitely is) somewhat idyllic, the hard graft of cleaning an old, neglected chateau is brushed aside in a few words, there's no mention of the back-breaking amount of laundry required to strip and wash several sets of bedding and towels after each change of guests, interspersed with cleaning and washing up and repairing the house. Fliss manages to do all these things effortlessly. But that is all part of the charm of this feel-good 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: Playing it Safe

Playing it Safe by Amy Andrews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Donovan Bane is a big tattooed half-Maori professional rugby player. Divorced, with a daughter who lives with her mother in New Zealand, he is devoted to being the best player he can be for the Sydney Smoke. Donovan is hiding a big secret, he's gay, but there are no openly gay professional rugby players out there and he doesn't want the furore of being the first one to come out, so he's resigned to staying in the closet until he retires a few years down the line, anyway it's not as if he has any experience with men, not since a disastrous first encounter years ago when he was still married.

Then pow! Donovan is sitting with two of his teammates' wives and baby having a coffee when the women spot a sexy guy wearing a Sydney Smoke lanyard. Donovan can't take his eyes off this sexy accountant, which is a surprise because he always thought he would be attracted to a sportsman or some more outdoorsy, and Beck can't take his eyes off Donovan, although he seems to understand that Donovan is hiding his sexuality and doesn't flirt with him.

It might have been the most innocent of meetings but Donovan can't help thinking about Beck, about how he had the courage to be totally honest about his sexuality, about mentioning his ex-boyfriend to relative strangers, about how gorgeous he was. Heck obsessing about Beck is putting him off his game, the most reliable player on the field!

Beck has been in a relationship with someone who keeps his sexuality a secret and he doesn't want to do it again, but this big, sexy rugby player is so cute and so sexy he's breaking his own rules.

This is the bit where Amy Andrews calls me out in her newsletter (again), of course the sex scenes are H.O.T.I just felt that there wasn't enough story/plot linking the sex scenes, not enough tension, no plot twist, no misunderstandings, no homophobic friends/teammates/family, no grit. I thought Kate Meader did it better in Undone By You, and yet it's a shorter 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: Battle Royal

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Four years ago Sylvie Fairchild was a contestant on baking reality show Operation Cake. Now she has her own cake shop and she's been invited to be a judge on the show, alongside her nemesis Dominic De Vere. Never have there been two such opposites. Sylvie's designs are whimsical, unicorns and fairies, rainbows and glitter (literally) whereas Dominic's designs are austere, shades of white and ivory, cream if he is feeling totally out-of-the-box, flawlessly executed with exquisite flavours and beautiful decoration, but (whisper) a bit boring. To add extra piquancy, Sylvie's shop Sugar Fair is immediately opposite Dominic's shop, which has been in his family for generations.

Then rumour has it that Princess Rosie is getting engaged to a nobody. The goth princess has a unique style, nothing like the rest of the royal family, and being invited to make the wedding cake would bring fame, fortune and many new orders to the lucky baker.

I love Lucy Parker's theatrical romances and this looks like it could be a great new series (I have high hopes for Dominic's sister Pet and X). Filled with Lucy's trademark lovable characters, charming settings and multi-layered plots it was a joy to read, and I devoured it in less than 24 hours!

Another sparkling winner from an auto-buy author. Loved it.

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Review: Flirt With Me

Flirt With Me by Kristen Proby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Meh, meh, meh.

Maeve O'Callaghan is a real-estate agent on a small, but exclusive island, just across Puget Sound from Seattle by day. By night she tends bar at her family's Irish bar. Clearly this is a spin-off of a spin-off given that this is seventeenth in the With Me in Seattle series, and I'm afraid it shows. A cast of multiple couples, most of them rich, famous, or both, yet all working in the family bar, come on?

Hunter Meyers has recently retired from MMA. He's a single father with a wayward teenage daughter, desperate to get her out of Seattle and away from the bad influences. He's engaged Maeve to find him a house with a view.

This book just screams category small-town romance to me. Pretty short, some dramatic tension which is (frankly) over before it has even begun, a flaky baby-mamma who tries to cause trouble, and some brief smexy times (so brief that I worried about Hunter's stamina LOL).

I'm sorry to say I've read loads of this type of book before with a stereotypical large Irish family, each sibling (and usually then cousins or newly discovered half-siblings) getting their own book. After a while they all get a bit same-same and this is no exception.

I received an ARC of this book from Valentine PR & Literary Management in return for an honest review.

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Review: Long Shadows

Long Shadows by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Where on earth to start?

First off, DO NOT start the series with this book, it is complicated enough for those of us who have read the preceding books for a new reader I think it would be almost impossible.

Elizabeth Cage was a very boring, ordinary, housewife, married to the head of security for a local research facility. But she has a secret, she can see people's auras (or colours as she describes it) and that can give her insights into people's emotions and whether they are lying. After her husband's death, Elizabeth is pursued by the sinister head of research, Sorenson.

Elizabeth thinks she has found some form of equilibrium/mutually assured destruction with Sorenson so she and Michael Jones (a shadowy MI5-type character) take a long-overdue holiday in Scotland. Unfortunately, despite their best plans, Elizabeth's 'gift' leads them into conflict almost immediately.

Someone else has said they couldn't describe the plot because plot because 'spoilers'. Suffice it to say this book contains: a hunky secret agent type with witty repartee, a huge sword, a smelly dog, Christmas, several ghosts, ancient gods, demons, murders, kidnapping, and a date. And of course, long dark shadows.

It was mad, gripping, funny, scary, and sweet all at once. Loved it.

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Review: Take a Moment

Take a Moment by Nina Kaye
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alex seems to be having the time of her life. Engaged to her childhood sweetheart Dom, flying high as an IT Project Manager, and planning her dream wedding in her beloved Glasgow. Then a fall at work leads to a shocking diagnosis and things start to fall apart.

Alex's changed circumstances might be life-altering, but it's the effect it has on her friends and family that is the most devastating. Over night it seems as though everyone is treating her like an invalid. Her mother and sister take over the wedding planning, and overrule all Alex's decisions. Dom treats her as though she doesn't know her own mind and she's been given a non-urgent make-work project to manage at work instead of the exciting project she was managing before the diagnosis. Even her best friend Sasha is treating her like an imbecile.

Determined that a medical diagnosis won't force her to be an invalid, and after a devastating argument with Dom, Alex decides to move to Birmingham, away from her the well-meaning, but suffocating, embrace of her friends and family. A new home, a new job, an employer who respects and accommodates her medical issues. The only fly in the ointment is one of her co-workers, Danielle, who unsuccessfully applied for the job that Alex won.

Romance, office politics, and karaoke, what's not to love?

This was a charming, yet insightful, romance and love letter to the overlooked city of Birmingham. It shone an honest light onto the limitations that such a diagnosis imposes, but also confirms that it doesn't stop you from living a good, exciting, and interesting life. I read that the author Nina Kaye has had a similar diagnosis and I think that is what makes this such an honest 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: Impassioned

Impassioned by Darcy Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Be careful what you wish for ...

I read the first book in this new series and found the premise (a group of men who set up their own gentlemen's gambling club) a little bit too similar to another historical romance series I'd read. However, I was intrigued to read the story of the Earl of Aldington, Constantine Westbrooke (elder brother of the founder of the Phoenix Club), and his bloodless marriage so I jumped at the chance of this when I saw the ARC available on NetGalley.

Constantine and his wife Sabrina's marriage was arranged by their parents. Constantine's father is controlling and Constantine has spent his life trying to earn his father's approval. Sabrina has crippling anxiety and her parents constantly criticise her. Ever since their marriage Constantine and Sabrina have barely spent any time together, bar a perfunctory fortnight each year. He spends his time in London while she resides at their country estate. But Sabrina has overcome her anxiety and come to London, determined to have a baby.

Sabrina and Constantine have been misled about each other by their respective parents and each has made erroneous assumptions about the other, in an effort to unravel the misunderstandings, Constantine's brother arranges for Sabrina to pose as a courtesan to (verbally) coach Constantine on the art of seducing his wife.

I felt like I deceived myself with this book. In my head it was supposed to be a bit like the relationship in The Scarlett Pimpernel, two people desperately in love with each other but for 'reasons' treating each other with icy disdain/politeness. Unfortunately, this book was more about Lessons in Love and standing up to your mean parents.

Again, I liked but I didn't love it. It felt like Sabrina was the driving force in the relationship and Constantine was a bit wet TBH, but I'm not a fan of the 'disguising yourself to date/make love to your own spouse' whether it's in literature or music.

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 Man Who Died Twice

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half well-earned stars.

Welcome back to the exclusive retirement village in Kent, home to the Thursday Murder Club where our four intrepid retirees are champing at the bit to solve another mystery.

Elizabeth (ex-MI5) receives a mysterious letter from a dead man which draws her back into the shadowy world of espionage, £20 million of stolen diamonds, the mafia, a black market 'fixer', drug dealers, and a rather distressing number of grisly murders for such a beautiful part of the English countryside.

The trick to a good detective story (in my opinion) is to keep the reader guessing the identity of the murderer for as long as possible, but not make the clues so convoluted and obscure that the reader can't recognise them in retrospect. Richard Osman does such a great job of this and I liked this probably even more than the first book. Roll on the next ...

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

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Review: I Love You, I Hate You: All's fair in love and law in this irresistible enemies-to-lovers rom-com!

I Love You, I Hate You: All's fair in love and law in this irresistible enemies-to-lovers rom-com! by Elizabeth Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Victoria Clemenceaux is a brilliant young in-house lawyer working for a soulless big corporation called Smorgasbord, based in . It's her job to quash any hints of law suits against the company and she's very good at it. She loathes her employer but it pays mega-bucks and as the daughter of a teen single-mother who has battled poverty her entire life, money is important. She has huge college debts and she would dearly love to buy her mother a house so working anywhere else for a lower salary is out of the question. Her arch-nemesis is Owen Pohl, the original Trust Fund kid, son of one of the richest families in the Upper Midwest, who has set up his own law firm who now likes to take on big business, and Victoria's employer is one of the largest in Minnesota, which is handy when it comes to depositioning senior management. They may hate each other in the Courtroom but its the sort of fiery hatred that leads to hate-sex.

What Victoria and Owen don't know is that while they may be arch-enemies in real life, they are close friends on Twitter. Neither uses their real names and Victoria has always been deliberately vague about her job and her physical location because her liberal, feminist views often attract trolls. Victoria has always been so focused on her career she doesn't really have any physical friends, only groups of like-minded individuals on Twitter. Even then, it is only 'Luke' to whom she opens up and spills all her hopes, fears, and insecurities.

IDK, is it a significant anniversary of the release of You've Got Mail? This is the second or third retelling of the film I have read this year, which itself was of course a remake of the film The Shop Around the Corner, which in itself was (according to Wiki) based on a Hungarian play. The trouble with reboots is how to keep the story interesting without totally departing from the original (by which I mean the Tom Hanks version because that's my era).

Well, the answer is, in this case, really well! I have issues with the Tom Hanks film, namely why he deliberately manipulates the situation, acting as his own Cyrano de Bergerac if you like. Elizabeth Davis does this brilliantly. She totally explains why Own doesn't admit he is Victoria's Twitter friend Luke (as in Skywalker) when he finds out - and it makes sense! And it doesn't make him a douche.

The only reason this isn't four stars is because I found the sex scenes both too frequent and not very sexy. I get that they are f*ckbuddies, but it wasn't very erotic. Conversely, I found the inevitable break-up scenes really moving and they brought me to tears.

Finally, a retelling of the Tom Hanks film which addresses my issues with the film in a way that makes sense. I will certainly look out for other books by Elizabeth Davis in future.

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

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Review: Her Last Hope

Her Last Hope by Louise Guy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Two women starting over become friends.

Abi's comfortable life in a wealthy suburb of Melbourne comes to an abrupt end when her husband commits suicide. He has been investing client money without consent and lost it all in a property scam. Ostracised by her former friends, made redundant from her job, and estranged from her teenage son, she gets a job as apartment manager for a run down block of apartments in Elsternwick with an apartment on site.

Lucinda is married to a drug dealer and all-round gangster, when Ryan is jailed for two years for assault she takes her opportunity to vanish without a trace and make a new life in Melbourne with her son Max with a false identity. A chance meeting with a kind, elderly couple at breakfast in the hotel on her first night in Melbourne persuades Lucinda to move to the Elsternwick area of Melbourne. Abi's first job is to get a tenant for an empty apartment and Lucinda seems like the perfect tenant, clean, respectable and able to pay two months rent in advance.

Faced at every turn by fresh evidence of Eric's perfidy (sorry, never used that word before but it just popped into my head) Abi sinks deeper into depression, not helped by her son's cutting remarks. Meanwhile Lucinda and Max are enjoying making a new life away from Ryan's violence, making friends and creating a home. But are all their new friends exactly what they seem?

The trouble with this kind of suspense is that the writer needs to drop enough hints for the reader to realise (as they said on Through The Keyhole) that 'the clues were there' and not so few that the reader is blindsided but not so many that the reader can see things coming a mile off. Unfortunately for me, this fell into the the latter category, I thought the clue dropping was so heavy that Lucinda was a fool to stay in Melbourne and I doubt that anyone on the run from a violent criminal would continue to interact with anyone who gave off an odd vibe.

As always this was a well-written novel with engaging characters, just a little obvious for my tastes.

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 Secrets of Latimer House

The Secrets of Latimer House by Jules Wake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Latimer House in the English countryside near Amersham is a secret base where allied troops interrogate captured German soldiers and sailors. Three very different women are recruited.

Evelyn, a society heiress whose father and brother are fighting for King and country, previously engaged to a German aristocrat her impeccable German and good looks help to make the prisoners more amenable.

Judith a German Jew who lost everything in Kristallnacht has been in England since 1938 but has never truly fit in. Her job will be to listen to private conversations between prisoners in their cells to see if they reveal any secrets away from their interrogators.

Betty is a local girl, she relished working in London away from her fussy mother and her sort-of fiancé Bert, but concern for her younger sister leads her to request a transfer to work at the Distribution Centre which has been set up at the local stately home.

Billeted together, doing top secret work, these three women form an unlikely friendship.

I thought that this would be more like The Rose Code which I read and really enjoyed earlier this year. However, this was less about the work and more about the romances, pleasant enough but not what I was really looking for. Also, it was all a bit predictable and don't even get me started on the 'coincidence' at the USAF dance!

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 Winter of Second Chances

The Winter of Second Chances by Jenny Bayliss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Annie Sharpe has a golden life, wife to Max, her childhood sweetheart, with twin sons Peter and Alex, and chef/owner of a MIchelin starred restaurant. Then a small error on her part leads Annie to confront a truth she's been ignoring for too long. A chance sighting of an unusual advertisement leads Annie to a role as short-term caretaker of a tiny cottage on the Kent coast called Saltwater Nook (the cottage not the village) while its owner holidays with a friend in Cornwall.

The village of Willow Bay is small and friendly, soon Annie, and Saltwater Nook are at the heart of village life, hosting various festivals and parties to mark the passing of the seasons. The only issue is her landlady's nephew John, who seems determined to sell Saltwater Nook to a developer.

This was a pleasant, albeit predictable, small town, over-40 contemporary romance. Annie is a likable character and her revival of the Saltwater Nook cafe acts as a hub for the community as the tourists leave.

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

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