Review: The Little Paris Patisserie

The Little Paris Patisserie by Julie Caplin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nina Hadley is tired of her family being all up in her grill 24/7, the downside of being a girl with four older brothers. When a chance arises for her to go to Paris to help her brother's best friend she jumps at the chance, even if said best friend, Sebastian Finlay, was her childhood crush and on one fateful occasion was the victim of her unrequited kisses when she was a teenager.

Sebastian runs a series of restaurants and was in the process of opening two in Paris when he broke his leg. Now he needs a girl-Friday to help him teach a pastry course at a small, run-down patisserie which he also bought and intends to turn into a bistro.

Nina loves to bake cakes for her sister-in-law's farm shop, but would love to learn how to make French patisserie, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

If you like other Julie Caplin books, or Katie Fforde books you like this too - although the constant description of lovely cakes will have you piling on the pounds!

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Review: Ms. Match

Ms. Match by Jo Leigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gwen Christopher is a normal woman, attractive, shapely, intelligent. Unfortunately the rest of her siblings are all ridiculously attractive (like they have all modelled for a time), so she has always been the Plain Jane of the family. She doesn't get them, and they don't get her. They also pity for being single.

Paul Bennett is a PR Rep in Los Angeles, almost as attractive as his movie star clients, he's lick, charming, and seen in all the best places. He has been actively courting Gwen's sister Autumn, who has been playing hard-to-get, wafting in from far-flung places, going out to dinner with Paul and teasing him before slipping from between his fingers, she likes the chase.

For reasons unknown, maybe just because she can, Autumn asks Paul to find a date for Gwen to a family party. When the friend he had earmarked has a sick mother at the last minute Paul steps into his place, naturally. However, far from being pathetically grateful that he has arrived to escort her to the party, Gwen is mortified; her siblings will immediately guess that Paul is an escort or a pity date and she doesn't need a date in the first place. Gwen accepts reluctantly and Paul fully intends to leave the party as early as he possibly can, until he finds that all of Gwen's siblings are just plain mean to her (as others have said, not sure why other than for the plot LOL). To counteract the meanness he decides to stick around and one thing leads to another.

The reason I liked this is because despite being a category romance (I assume 'Blaze' means steamy), it turned the 'She's All That' turning a plain girl into a beauty trope on its head. Gwen doesn't change her appearance one iota, it's Paul who realises that he is shallow, someone that Gwen has no interest in dating, which is a blow to his ego, but he realises that he has hundreds of acquaintances but no ride-or-die friends, unlike Gwen. The more time he spends with Gwen, the more he enjoys her company, their conversations, her humour and the more he realises that he isn't happy in his materialistic lifestyle.

Other people have commented (adversely) on the fact that Paul was pursuing Autumn while entering into a friendship with Gwen, I didn't have that problem. To me Paul viewed Gwen as only a friend, and when that changed he intended to tell Autumn, it just took him a long time to realise that he had nothing in common with Autumn because he was blinded by her looks.

Anyway, it was fun, it was charming, it gave me the warm fuzzies.

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Review: Stay Buried

Stay Buried by Katherine Webb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Detective Inspector Matt Lockyer is now working cold cases after crossing the line on an arson case involving an old school friend. He gets a call from Hedy Lambert, serving twenty years for murder, hid first murder case in fact. She wants to speak to him urgently, there is new evidence in her case - the assumed victim has turned up very much alive after thirty years.

Fourteen years ago Hedy was housekeeper to Professor Roland Ferres. A young man, originally thought to be Roland's estranged son Harry who had been missing for sixteen years, was murdered in one of the Professor's barns, the same one in which his wife Helen committed suicide. Hedy discovered the body and was covered in blood; the murder weapon, a kitchen knife, only had her fingerprints on it. Matt pursued Hedy's conviction with zeal, it was his chance to prove himself, but he was never 100% convinced that she was the killer, perhaps because he felt an attraction to the young woman.

Now with Hedy's call, Matt is worried that there may have been a miscarriage of justice and requests leave to reopen the case. Back in 2005 with a clear suspect the police did not investigate any other potential killers thoroughly. Also, forensic techniques have improved enormously over fourteen years, they may find new evidence.

As Matt and his DC Gemma Broad investigate they find plenty of other suspects, but who did they want to kill, Harry or the actual victim Mickey Brown? How did Mickey fool his father into thinking he was Harry? Did the killer do it for the Professor's money? Was Mickey killed to cover up something? Can Matt be objective when he still has feelings for Hedy? They also start to uncover other mysteries, like why did Helen kill herself?

I enjoyed this crime novel, it was twisty and there were other personal threads running through it, like SC Broad's relationship, Matt's parents, his elderly neighbour (I suspect her husband was killed in Matt's attic), and Matt's friend Kevin. Matt was a bit angsty, his younger brother was murdered on a pub crawl when he was just eighteen and the killer was never found. His death has profoundly affected Matt and his parents. However, I did guess who killed Mickey (and why), hence not four stars. I am definitely interested in reading the next book in this series.

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

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Review: Love Untold

Love Untold by Ruth Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four women, four generations of Meredith women, decades of lies, half-truths, and silence.

Grace Meredith is eighty-nine years old. Widowed in her thirties, left to bring up a teenage daughter, Alys, she ran a boarding house with her friends John, and his sister Cassie for years until Cassie and John's ill-health forced them to move to a home where she visits them every day. Despite her age Grace swims daily, either in the hideous swimming pool in her garden or wild swimming in the sea, and does yoga several times a week.

Thirty years ago Alys and Grace had an almighty row and Alys disappeared, never heard of again. But Grace has recently received a postcard with a picture of Welsh hills on the front, painted by Alys Meredith. Is she strong enough to reach out to her wayward daughter, now seventy years old, and heal the rift? But what will her fifty-one year old grand-daughter Elin think about it? Elin has told everyone that her mother is dead, including her own daughter Beca. A respected head teacher at the local school, Elin couldn't bear anyone to find out the truth about her mother. Elin is busy organising a surprise birthday party for Grace and as usual it has got completely out-of-hand, exasperating both her husband Greg and Beca.

Finally, Beca, sixteen years old, artistic and musical but not good at lessons, constantly at odds with perfectionist Elin who sees education as a gateway to the world, she knows she is about to fail all her GCSEs and disappoint her mother, again.

Everyone thinks they know the truth, but they are all keeping secrets, will Grace's party be a joyous reunion or a day of tears and recriminations?

Told from each woman's point of view this novel criss-crosses backwards and forwards in time, stopping on key events in their lives. This was funny, sad, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable. Truly a cwtch.

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

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Review: The Legacy of Halesham Hall

The Legacy of Halesham Hall by Jenni Keer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The blurb

1890. One summer evening changes everything for Sidney and Leonard Bellingham when their beloved mother disappears from the family home, Halesham Hall. Left with their bitter father, they are taught to trust no one but themselves, with brother pitted against brother to see who is worthy of inheriting the Bellingham Board Games company. But the series of twisted games they are forced to play will have far reaching consequences.

1920. Phoebe Bellingham arrives at Halesham Hall determined to solve the puzzles that will allow her to claim back the Bellingham inheritance. But this legacy involves more than one secret, and soon Phoebe realises that the stakes are higher than she ever could have imagined.

Told in dual timelines, Sidney's actions in the 1890s as a child and young man, and Phoebe's in the present day with a much older Sidney in residence at Halesham Hall, a bitter and sour man. Sidney's father Clement was a clever man who devised many of his company's best selling games and rather than allowing his eldest son to inherit the Hall and the company, he made the Hall into a giant cryptic game hiding the deeds to the Hall. Whoever of his sons solved the clues first would inherit the company, but the person who found the deeds would inherit the Hall, although the son who inherited the company could live in the Hall until the deeds were found. Sidney solved the puzzle but never found the deeds, his brother Leonard was disinherited.

Twenty -one years later, Phoebe, Leonard's daughter comes to the Hall determined to avenge her father and wrest the Hall away from Sidney, even if it means she must work as a servant in the Hall.

I liked the premise of this book, but I had read something similar in a Lord Peter Wimsey short story, The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will in Lord Peter Views the Body. Also, the dual timelines just meant that I had to read the same clues being solved twice. All-in-all I found the book a bit of a slog TBH and it was only the plethora of four and five star reviews that kept me reading to the end. I found the plot a bit predictable and heavily signalled so that I was entirely unsurprised by the ending.

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

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Review: A Mansion for Murder

A Mansion for Murder by Frances Brody
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my first Kate Shackleton novel, although I have two other novels on my TBR pile. There isn't much backstory to get to grips with and I found it easy to read as a standalone novel.

Kate receives a mysterious letter, addressed to her married name of Mrs Gerald Shackleton which suggests the letter may relate to her late husband as most correspondence is now addressed to her personally. The letter requests a meeting on Saturday close to Milner Field mansion in the mill town of Saltaire. But when Kate goes to meet her correspondent it is only to find that he has died that very afternoon, drowned in the reservoir attached to the mill.

At first Kate resists getting involved in the investigation into Ronnie Creswell's death, but when the owner of the mansion (and the mill) requests her assistance on a multi-faceted front she can't help but be drawn in. Mr Whittaker is concerned that the police suspect one of his workers, David Fairburn, of killing Ronnie and wants Kate to recommend a good lawyer. He also suspects industrial espionage, a lucrative contract for the supply of cloth which has automatically renewed every year has suddenly been put out to tender and he has been advised by the purchasing manager that another bid has been received which is clearly based on his own costings, he wants Kate to engage her assistant Mr Sykes to go undercover in the mill to work out who is selling his information to his rivals. Finally, as if that weren't enough, Ronnie's mother was the housekeeper at the mansion, she's resigned muttering about the curse on anyone who lives there, and he wants Kate to recommend a new one to help him get the mansion ready for the upcoming sale at auction (glossing over the house's sad history of deaths). Kate suggests her own housekeeper, Mrs Sugden is ideally placed.

During the investigation Kate learns that the Estate Manager is clearly living the life of Reilly (BTW who is/was Reilly?) drinking expensive wines from the mansion's cellars and having parties while the family are away. The family recently hosted a fancy dress party at the mansion, after which one of the maids disappeared, along with lots of the family silver.

I did enjoy this book, it reminded me very much of the Maisie Dodds series, so much so that on occasion I was confused by the references to living in Leeds, but with less of an emphasis on the main character being involved in big events of the time.

One minor niggle was that there seemed to be some leaping to conclusions towards the end and I couldn't quite see how Kate and her associates made the connections, maybe because I was reading the book in between other things and not giving it my entire attention.

Anyway, this has definitely spurred me on to start the series.

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

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Review: Imitate the Dawn

Imitate the Dawn by M.A. Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

In the thrilling conclusion to the Whitethorn Agency trilogy, vampire Cristian Slava and his human bodyguard Atlas Kincaid must rescue Cristian's father and prove his innocence, which will require them to act as if they are no longer a couple. Their investigations into who is creating Strigoi will take them to the heart of the Vampire Council and uncover a shocking betrayal close to home.

First off, don't read this without having read the previous books as I did. There is no backstory info dump to set you up and I am very hazy as to things like what happened to Radu's father in the previous books or why Cristian's father was arrested. At 5% I was totally lost and willing to throw in the towel, it was like I had jumped into a book mid-way through. But I persevered, if only to spare myself the ignominy of DNFing a book so early, and gradually the plot grabbed me and took me along for the ride. Because it was the third book I never really understood what a Strigoi, is my guessing was based on reading Vampire Academy and the follow-on series, and it gave off a similar vibe.

I definitely want to read the earlier books in this series and I realise I missed the third book in the The Darkest Court series as well!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

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Review: Keeping a Christmas Promise

Keeping a Christmas Promise by Jo Thomas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three friends travel to Iceland at Christmas to fulfil their friend's bucket wish to see the Northern LIghts.

Freya is a London chef, working in a Michelin starred restaurant, only her love for their lost friend would have persuaded her to go on holiday just before their new restaurant opens in the run-up to Christmas (which honestly I can't believe would ever happen).

Meg is about to get married for the second time, if her friends and ex-in-laws don't driver her crazy first.

Joanna married well and her Christmas is delivered (like Margot Ledbetter in the Good Life). Fancy cars, houses, holidays, food and wine, she has it all.

But when a last minute attempt to see the Northern Lights leaves the trio stuck on the wrong side of an avalanche the women may need to celebrate a simpler Christmas with the Icelandic villagers of this remote village.

I enjoyed reading this but about two-thirds of the way through I found it hard going. The endings were signalled and it felt like we were limping towards the end. And of course the problem with a book dragging is that you start to see faults, like the Icelandic artist Pétur who seems happy to see his village atrophy rather than embrace change. Also the slow pace meant I felt I was being preached at about the villagers way of life.

I enjoy Jo Thomas books, but they seem to be very idealistic and a bit naive at times.

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

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Review: A Killer's Kiss

A Killer's Kiss by Helen Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DC Emma Fleming is called in to review a murder which may have a supernatural element by the Hackney Police, although the police think it is a run-of-the-mill psychopath who murdered a human then painted the floor with his blood. Then a second body is found, a goblin, with obvious links to the first murder. Yet the modus operandi seems different. Could Emma be looking for two killers working together?

Soon Emma is dealing with a spree of killings, juggling a press-loving Superintendent, angry werewolves, and frightened dentists. And there's a Cassandra giving important but cryptic clues.

A great story in a great series.

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Review: Someone Like You: An emotional and heartwarming page-turner perfect for summer

Someone Like You: An emotional and heartwarming page-turner perfect for summer by Rachel Dove
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 45%.

Hannah's husband is violent and abusive, one night, with the help of a friend she takes her baby daughter Ava and flees to the village of Leadsham. With barely any money, no afraid to use any documentation that her husband might use to trace her, Hannah is keeping a low profile, until an opportunist bugger tries to steal her bag in the park. Hannah is rescued by off-duty police officer Andrew and his dog. Despite all efforts to repel him, Hannah gradually finds herself drawn to Andrew, sensing that he is an honest and decent man, especially when he helps her get a part-time job in the bookshop owned by his former partner. However, Hannah is too ashamed to share her past with Andrew and scared that her husband could sweet talk his way around anything she claimed, after all he's done it before with the police. Hannah's inner monologue is 'this man is kind and gentle, but I am ashamed of being beaten up by my husband, I can never tell Andrew and so I must push him away, but he has been kind so I must return the favour'.

Frankly, Andrew is a pretty poor cop if he doesn't see a young woman with a baby, no money, terrified of men and violence and can't infer that she may be an abused spouse, certainly the slow and quiet way in which he moves and talks to her suggests he has his suspicions. However, his inner monologue is all 'what is she hiding, why won't she tell me, I must know the truth'.

Throw in a small town, a pregnant bookshop owner (the partner's wife, not Andrew's partner) with a heart of gold and I'm afraid you get the simpering sweetness of a Hallmark Sunday afternoon film with all the menace of a paper bag. Andrew appears to be trying to bring down an organised crime drugs ring, yet he also appears to be the local beat copper in the small town, known to everyone and his police dog goes to the local library to meet the small children and their mums!

Overall, its slow, its dragging, and its totally predictable so I gave up at 45% after stopping and starting reading several times.

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

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Review: Drunk on Love

Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 60%.

Margot Noble and her brother Elliott co-own a winery in Napa Valley after it was left to them jointly by their uncle Stan. It was a shock to both siblings as Elliott was the only one working in the winery, while Margot was working in advertising and marketing in the city. Nevertheless, despite the friction, the winery is very successful and is taking on more staff to run the wine tastings and tours while Margot concentrates on growing the business and Elliott concentrates on growing the vines.

After yet another fractious discussion with Elliott where he resists all her attempts to grow the business, or reluctantly accepts with bad grace, and announces that he has hired a new guy to help with the wine tastings, Margot finds herself in the bar run by her BFF Sydney. Sydney recommends that Margot unwind and take her mind off things by flirting with the young(er) guy sitting next to her at the bar.

In true rom-com tradition, the guy, Luke Williams, just happens to be the man that Elliott hired. A former high-flyer in Silicon Valley, Luke quit in a moment of stress/burn-out and has temporarily moved back home to Napa Valley to be closer to his BFF Avery who has just gone through a nasty break-up. Although he originally intended to do nothing, he decided he would get bored and so applied for a job which was totally different from anything he'd done before (which BTW must be super irritating to people who stud for years to know all about the wines being offered and this book makes it seem like you can pick it up in a couple of weeks).

Margot says she doesn't want to talk about work and they never share last names so it's a bit of an unwelcome surprise when the morning after the night before Luke discovers that Margot is one of his new bosses. Margot is desperate to keep their one-night stand from Elliott as she thinks it will be further evidence that she shouldn't be co-owner of the winery, even though the business was not doing well until she came along.

I have really enjoyed the other Jasmine Guillory books I have read and so I was delighted when I got approved for an ARC. Sadly although this was competently written (naturally), there was no spark, the angst felt by Luke and Margot over their attraction and one-night stand goes on and on and on. Also, I get that the Williams and the Nobles are black, which makes them unusual in the mainly white Napa Valley, but how many times do they need to say it to each other and in exactly those words? I also got unreasonably irritated by how many times Margot put her hair up in a bun, a sleek top knot, a messy bun, just a bun, FFS who cares!

Anyway, there's a few side plots eg the rom-com staple of pretending to be dating someone else, Luke's ex boss being a racist/terrible boss etc but it was just dragging no real plot advancement just longing looks and angst about their age difference and their one night stand yadda yadda. Sorry just not for me.

I was honestly hoping/expecting that this was a rerelease of an earlier book, but no sadly this is a new release.

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

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Review: The Christmas Castle in Scotland

The Christmas Castle in Scotland by Julie Caplin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well my wishes have been answered (albeit I forgot that I made the wish but never mind). Izzy, a side character in The Cosy Cottage in Ireland gets her own book.

Izzy McBride has inherited a castle in Scotland from her great uncle, she returns to the castle after having taken a cookery course at the famous Killorgally Cookery School in Ireland, determined to make the castle a going concern by offering B&B. Izzy's mother Xanthe is a 'free spirit', dramatic, selfish, a spendthrift, lover of big ideas. While Izzy has been in Ireland Xanthe has rented out one of their rooms to a history professor, Ross Strathallan, for an exorbitant amount of money without consulting Izzy, moreover she has also agreed to host an American couple and their family for Christmas, despite the castle not being fit for guests.

Whilst trying to keep her mother's wilder excesses under control, rescuing a young couple who are wild camping in the castle's grounds, supporting local food producers, and frantically renovating rooms for their guests in the lead up to Christmas, Izzy manages to feed the inhabitants, dance at a ceilidh, and decorate three Christmas trees. Oh, and did I mention the rumours that there is a fortune in sapphires hidden somewhere in the castle?

Little does Izzy know that the grumpy history professor is also Ross Adair the writer of a a series of thrillers which she adores.

This is only the second Julie Caplin book I have read but I think the titles and covers give you a good indication of the content. It's full of snow, whisky, sumptuous food, Christmas stockings hung by the fire, dour but lovable family retainers, and a big old dollop of romance. Think Katie Fforde without the virginal female lead and taciturn male lead. Its cute, cosy, funny, and heart-warming - just what you want from a holiday romance.

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

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