Review: The Wishing Game

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lucy Hart had a very unhappy childhood and fell into a relationship with her college professor which also ended under a cloud. Now, saddled with debt, she is working as a teaching assistant in California. She cares deeply for one of her charges, a little seven year old boy called Christopher who has also had a traumatic childhood, and she is desperate to foster him but with poor housing, no car, and huge debts the odds are stacked against her.

Jack Masterson was a children's author who wrote a best-selling series of novels called Clock Island, a real island in Maine. But suddenly after writing over forty books he stopped and hasn't written anything for years. His books were a lifeline to Lucy and she has read them to young Christopher. The books feature children who venture to the island and have to solve a series of riddles and puzzles to get their wishes to come true.

Then one day Jack announces (very Willy Wonka) that he has written a new book, but there is only one copy, to be won by someone from a small group of personally invited guests. Each one of his books sells tens of millions of copies so this prize could make the winner rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Knowing that her only realistic chance of being able to foster Christopher is to win the prize (and also being beyond excited that there is a new book to read), Lucy is ecstatic when she receives an invitation, but the game will test her to the limit.

I loved this, miles too short, should have been at least 1,000 pages longer, wonderful, whimsical, charming, and sad. Currently only 99p on Amazon UK.

View all my reviews

Review: Outlier

Outlier by Susie Tate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book we've all been waiting for, Vicky and Mike.

Vicky is neurally diverse, a genius who makes millions for her clients, she has no understanding of social skills. It didn't help that she was the product of an affair between the late Duke of Buckingham and (obviously) Vicky's mother who hoped to trap him into marriage. Deemed 'difficult' by her mother, Vicky was dumped on Margot (Lady Harding) for the summer when she was only six years old, already barely speaking a word. Obviously her half-siblings were appalled and Margot wasn't thrilled to have the evidence of her husband's infidelity staring her right in the face. Now, as an adult people think she's weird, too intense, and too beautiful. Her beauty intimidates both men and women and they interpret her shyness as being too good for the rest of them and call her the Ice Princess. What no-one realises is that Vicky agrees with everyone that she is weird, she doesn't think she's loveable, and she remains convinced that her 'friends' are just being kind and/or have to be friendly because they work for her or are related in some way.

The only man Vicky has ever been attracted to is Mike Mayweather, a skilled artisan carpenter who makes bespoke furniture, his sister Lucy is married to Vicky's half-brother Ollie. He is aware of Vicky's interest in him but assumes she is posh totty looking for a bit of rough. Accordingly, he is rude to Vicky and turns down her tentative request for a date, thinking it was far more sordid.

If you've read the two previous books in the series (and if you haven't, do it now), you'll know what happens, Ollie and his on/off girlfriend Lottie get distracted at a party and fail to get Vicky out before the fireworks go off. Vicky reacts like she's at the Battle of the Somme and Mike is the only one there to protect/help her which brings out his protective instincts. Then Margot lets slip that she is the secret investor in Mike's business and if he doesn't 'woo' Vicky she will pull the plug, she does it for all the right reasons but we just know it's going to bite Mike on the bum LOL.

Once Mike starts to understand where Vicky is coming from he is intrigued, he is a bit obsessive about things too so the way she can talk about hedgehogs for hours on end is interesting to him.

I did enjoy this but it was very sad, my heart broke for Vicky, and so I would say I didn't like it as much as Gold Digger (mind you I did stay reading it (and the bonus epilogue) all night until I'd finished).

I received an ARC from the author via BookFunnel.




View all my reviews

Review: Not Quite a Wife

Not Quite a Wife by Mary Jo Putney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Laurel Herbert fell in love with her brother's best friend when they first met and they married in a whirlwind shortly afterwards. After a fairy-tale honeymoon of a year travelling Europe they returned to England where the romance turned to dust after her husband, James, Lord Kirkland, killed a man who had broken into their house with his bare hands.

Laurel fled London and returned to Bristol where she and her brother set up a charitable clinic helping the poor. Despite being a spy master and knowing where Laurel is living, James refrains from seeking her out. Then one day, a decade after their short-lived marriage, while in Bristol on business James is taken ill with a bout of malaria and, whilst incapacitated, beaten and robbed in the street. Two passers-by charitably carry him to Laurel's clinic where she is astonished to see her husband's face. For his part, James thinks he is hallucinating, one thing leads to another and of course Laurel ends up pregnant. James is determined to be involved in his son or daughter's life and proposes a reconciliation, but Laurel initially resists and insists she intends to spend the majority of her time in Bristol while James is in London. But the passion between them can't be ignored and soon they are as much in love as they ever were. But can Laurel get over the fact that James has killed a man?

Honestly, I love MJP as an author but this was a hard read. Laurel is a Methodist but even that doesn't really explain why she ran away from her husband when he killed an intruder. Frankly she was just irritating and poor James had the patience of a saint. Also, this is the sixth book in the series (I've only read one other) and there is a really dire bit in the middle where James introduces Laurel to all his friends and their wives and then one by one each of the wives admits that they too have killed a man - totally ridiculous.

Most definitely not one of her better books IMHO.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.


View all my reviews

Review: Lessons in Heartbreak

Lessons in Heartbreak by Karla Sorensen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ruby is a small town librarian. As an only child, from a young age she was always the responsible one, the one who stayed home at weekends, always handed her homework in on time, commuted to college, never had a one-night stand. After a massive health scare she has resigned herself to living alone but lately she has felt as though she is missing out on something ... not love, marriage, and children but at least some sort of love affair at least. Her best friend Lauren (who is one of those obnoxious BFFs that seem only to exist in romantic comedy novels) is trying to force Ruby out of her comfort zone (because a huge dildo as a birthday present is 100% the way to gently ease someone into trying romance LOL) and persuades her to try an escort service.

Griffin King is a pro football player, after speaking rather too candidly to a journalist about his feelings for his twin brother Barrett (who is a football coach) his agent has sent him to spend a few weeks away from the spotlight at his house in Welling Springs, Colorado before the announcement that he has signed for Denver. Griffin and Barrett were always rivals, something their father encouraged, but they fell into good boy/bad boy stereotypes, Barrett was always (like Ruby) the one who worked hard, studied hard, listened to the coaches and his teachers, while Griffin played hard and leant into every stereotype of the college football hero.

Griffin and Barrett used to live next door to Ruby as children, until her family moved away. Bored of being stuck in a mansion alone, he wanders into the local coffee shop where Ruby has arranged to meet her escort. Griffin is dressed the same way as her escort and Ruby jumps to wrong conclusion, particularly because Griffin recognises her and greets her by name.

However, once the snafu is revealed Ruby decides that she feels more comfortable with Griffin that with the escort she chose and asked Griffin to teach her the ways of seduction. He's only in town for a few weeks so it is perfect for both of them.

Navigating the code words for romance novels is a nightmare. The latest one is 'spicy' which, based on this book, I would guess means a cosy small-town romance with a few smexy scenes but nothing raunchy.

Anyway, I liked this, nothing earth-shatteringly different but everything was well done and a fun read.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

View all my reviews

Review: The Murder at World’s End

The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stephen Pike has been invited to take a position as second footman at Tithe Hall, a remote stately home on a Cornish island. He has just been released from Borstal after serving two years for a gang fight in a Bow pub. An orphan whose only living relative died while he was in Borstal, he knows that this is his last chance to redeem himself.

When Stephen arrives he finds that the house is boarded up, yet there are family, guests and staff inside. The owner, Lord Conrad Stockingham-Welt firmly believes that Halley's Comet will bring death and destruction to the World and the only way to survive is to seal everyone inside the house until it has passed over.

Stephen is immediately set to boarding up fireplaces, locking people in their rooms, sealing locks with wax and stuffing wadding around door frames etc (although thinking about it, if the house is sealed from the outside why do they also need to seal people up individually as well?). Then he his handed the poison chalice of being forced to look after Miss Decima Stockingham, a foul-mouthed elderly woman who resides in a separate wing of the house and has terrorised all the maids.

Much to his surprise, Miss Decima pooh-poohs Conrad's fears and instead insists that Stephen take her outside so that she can chart the comet's progress across the sky.

The next morning when Stephen, the first footman Lowen, and the butler Mr Stokes start unsealing the rooms Stephen makes a grisly discovery. Conrad has been murdered by a crossbolt through the eye ... in a sealed room (duh duh duh). Stephen is terrified, as the newest member of staff, with a criminal record he is obviously going to be the primary suspect, something which is borne out when the police inspector arrives from the mainland. Only Miss Decima believes him and together they set out to discover who killed Conrad and why. Was it his cousin Edwin Welt, MP, who expects to inherit the money and the house on Conrad's death? Or his cousin Read Admiral Jolyon Welt, the alcoholic? Of Lettice Welt, who has allegedly seen off her husband, daughter and son-in-law? Or Lettice's grandson the foul Gilbert? What about Conrad's German friend and co-founder of his Halley's Comet society Professor Wolf Muller? What about one of the servants?

This is a good old-fashioned, locked-room mystery. Loved it. Plenty of obnoxious suspects. Plenty of red herrings. Lots of accusations, dead fish, a suit of armour, a maze, missing laundry, a change of will.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Well, This Is Awkward: A story of Family Misunderstandings, Midlife Malaise, and Mildly Terrifying Teenagers

Well, This Is Awkward: A story of Family Misunderstandings, Midlife Malaise, and Mildly Terrifying Teenagers by Esther Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mairéad is living her best life, head of a influencer talent agency which she sold to a US group for a pile of money, single, her own immaculate flat, impeccable hair, make-up and clothes.

Then she receives a call, her estranged elder sister has been hospitalised and there is no-one to look after her eleven year old daughter Sunny. As her daughter's name suggests, Mairéad's sister is a bit of a hippy, living off-grid, eschewing modern medicines as poison, protesting pretty much everything, and home-schooling Sunny. Mairéad's mother Helen is more interested in her lodgers than either of her daughters or her granddaughter, plus to Mairéad's knowledge she hasn't left her house in years.

So reluctantly, Mairéad agrees to take charge of her niece. Sunny still sucks her thumb, hates being touched, rarely wears shoes, and frankly smells. Her arrival completely throws Mairéad through a loop (hoop?) and necessitates huge changes to her life.

I really enjoyed this, although I thought Mairéad was incredibly dense at some points, it was heart warming and life affirming without the misogynist undertones that successful single women are all really deeply unhappy and would feel happier if they became full-time mothers which I see/feel in many books/films where a career woman suddenly acquires a child. My only gripe(s) was that the end felt a little rushed - there was an issue, it got solved in a few pages, there were some seeds of new beginnings and BOOM the end. I could have read on and on and on.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: The White Octopus Hotel

The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Its 2015, Eve Shaw lives a lonely existence, she is haunted by the death of her younger sister Bella at only two years of age, a death for which she feels responsible. She is nicknamed the Black Widow by her colleagues at the Auction House where she works because of her propensity for wearing black clothing at all times, usually a polo-neck jumper, little do they know it is to hide her octopus tattoo which has an unusual habit of crawling around her body and sometimes peeking over her clothing.

Then a mysterious old man, who happens to share the name of her favourite composer Max Everly, who died decades ago, visits her at the auction house, presses a gift of a ceramic octopus into her hand, makes some cryptic remarks and later dies on the steps of the building.

After purchasing an antique tea-set with an octopus motif at a flea market, Eve shows it to a colleague who hazards a guess that it may have come from the fabled White Octopus Hotel in Switzerland, which closed suddenly in 1935. Owned by the reclusive painter Victor Roth, the hotel was claimed to contain numerous magical items, including writing paper which would allow the writer to send a letter to the past.

When Eve enters the derelict hotel a magical key whisks her back to 1935, when the hotel was in its art deco heyday, where she meets a young Max Everly who had convalesced at the hotel in 1918 after developing a septic wound. Whilst staying at the hotel he fell in love with a young British nurse called ... Eve Shaw.

This book took me on a wonderful, fantastical journey, from 2015 to 1935 and 1918, a doomed cross time romance, historical traumas that can't be undone, a scavenger hunt, and a magical hotel with hidden rooms.

I loved it and I could totally see it as a film.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.


View all my reviews

Review: The Times Sir: The year in letters

The Times Sir: The year in letters by Andrew Riley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A collection of letters to The Times newspaper.

I've read similar collections from the The Telegraph and I have to say I think those were funnier and/or more batty. Generally I got the impression that it was only funny/interesting if you were there at the time (although I will take the tip about scaring away Magpies from a fellow Orpingtonite), otherwise these letters barely raised a wry smile.

View all my reviews

Review: A Saxon Shadow

A Saxon Shadow by H.L. Marsay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Chief Inspector Shadow has a string of crimes: vandalism in the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, a spate of break-ins in York, then a murder in a small Moorland village, where, surprise, surprise there are also signs of a break-in and vandalism in the local churchyard (shamelessly stolen from the blurb).

The victim, Kenelm Underhill was an independently wealthy man who co-owned a pet food company and was obsessed with Saxon history, particularly the legend of King Alfred’s Hoard which he allegedly buried locally when fleeing the Vikings.

Are all/any of the crimes related? Shadow finds the village is a hotbed of infidelity, jealousy, rivalry, and unrequited love. as the list of suspects and motives grows can Shadow pick through the evidence and uncover the perpetrator?

I requested this book after reading the previous book in the series. In the interim I purchased the first two books and discovered my feelings towards Chief Inspector Shadow had grown into active dislike. He's just unpleasant to his staff, a total stick-in-the-mud, and a culinary philistine. Hence why it has taken me ten months to finish a book I started reading three weeks prior to publication.

Now obviously picking up a book and putting it down for months on end doesn't help keep the characters straight but I couldn't really tell any of the suspects apart (obviously male versus female wasn't an issue) but best friend/brother/rival didn't really stand out in any way and it all became a bit convoluted and the number of crimes just grew and grew. Frankly, I though Sergeant Chang did better at spotting a crime than Shadow.

Clearly this series is not for me, I don't like a curmudgeonly detective or a distracting number of suspects where the clue to unlocking the crime involves a superhuman feat. I will no longer request books in this series, although I still like all the other books I have read by this author.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.



View all my reviews

Review: Dangerous Sea

Dangerous Sea by David Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lord Benyon is travelling to the USA on one of the first of the Queen Mary's voyages on a secret mission to persuade President Roosevelt to support the UK against Germany. There have been rumours of attempts to prevent the meeting so Lord Edward Corinth has been asked to act as companion, he wouldn't be out of place in the First Class cabins and his previous attempts to retrieve politically sensitive letters have shown he can be trusted. A secret service agent will act as Lord Benyon's valet and Edward's nephew will act as Lord Benyon's bag carrier after he had to be rescued from Spain after running off to fight for the communists.

Meanwhile, Verity Browne, communist party member and journalist has been asked to accompany American union representative Sam Forrest back to America to understand how the workers are protesting and uniting against their overlords.

Also onboard are a motley crew of guests. There's a black American singer/actor and his white wife. A racist American senator and his put-upon wife. A widow and her twins, distant cousins to the President, Lord Benyon's assistant, an art critic who commissioned several of the artworks on the Queen Mary, and one of the artists themselves.

But as they undertake the five day journey the bodies start mounting up - can Edward and Verity sort the wheat from the chaff and identify the murderer(s)?

I did enjoy this. However, there were so many suspects/false confessions that TBH I am still a bit confused about who killed whom and why. Well I'm not, what I'm trying to articulate (badly) is that everyone had a motive, means, and opportunity so it feels like any one of them could plausibly have been the guilty party, there was no 'it can only be X because Y' explanation. Otherwise, I'm enjoying the historical political detail just as much as the mystery.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

View all my reviews

Review: The Otley Murders

The Otley Murders by J.R. Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A particularly unpleasant man, Adam Blake, who DCI Oldroyd helped to convict of multiple murders of lonely old women has broken out of prison after a decade. Since he threatened revenge on DCI Oldroyd the police are understandably concerned for his safety and for that of his family.

Meanwhile, a man's body is found inside a cell in what was the Old Courthouse before it became a community arts centre. The man has been strangled and the word Vindicta scrawled across his forehead.

DCI Oldroyd can't help but suspect the murder is somehow linked to Adam Blake, particularly when Adam starts calling him on his mobile phone. There is surprisingly little information about the victim, he seems to have very little history prior to a few years previously, even his wife seems to know very little about his previous life. Then a second body appears, similarly staged, with the same word scrawled on their forehead. What links the victims? Why has the murderer chosen to write the Latin word for vengeance on their heads? Why have the victims been murdered and their bodies moved to a different location and staged?

While DCI Oldroyd and Steph investigate the murders, Andy is helping investigate how Adam escaped custody and try to locate him.

I recall that I had read the first few books in this series and given up, but decided to request an ARC of this eleventh book anyway. Rereading my previous reviews apparently I requested an ARC of the tenth book and power read through four of the earlier books before thinking they were a bit same-same and finding DCI Oldroyd a bit of an old fuddy duddy. Nevertheless, after a suitable palate cleansing romance or two I really enjoyed the tenth book so I am glad I requested this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this. A solid police procedural with DCI Oldroyd not always getting things right and maybe failing to follow up on avenues of enquiry. The irritating quirks from the first four books are no longer in evidence (I think his partner Deborah has helped remove them).

I know the series is available on Kindle Unlimited so I may well start to read the intervening books.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

View all my reviews

Review: Stone & Sky

Stone & Sky by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The blurb for this sounds like the start of a joke:

Detective Sergeant Peter Grant, his partner Beverley, their young twins, his mum, his dad, his dad's band and their dodgy manager, his boss, DCI Thomas Nightingale, and his cousin Abigail go to Aberdeen for a holiday. Oops forgot the talking fox.

The next thing you know there's dead Selkies (well TBH only one), a giant Panther, and all manner of Weird Bollocks which require Peter's special brand of investigative powers. Considering its been five years (FIVE YEARS) since I last read a book in this series (for some reason I didn't read Book 9 although I'm sure I've got it, I had no difficulty in picking it up.

Some cracking bits of humour - love the twins 'Shout, shout' yelling (when you get there you'll know).

Loved it from start to finish.

View all my reviews

Review: Pitcher Perfect

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Robbie Corrigan is a rookie for Boston Bearcats (ice hockey), living the single rich guys dream and rooming with his friend. Then one day he and his team mates turn up for a game of baseball in the park against players from the local baseball team. Robbie is overheard being too graphic and not very complementary about thee woman he was with the previous night by Skylar Paige, a division one baseball pitcher. Robbie is completely bowled over by Skylar but after what she overheard she wants nothing to do with the dirty man 'ho.

Skylar is carrying a lot of excess baggage, all the rest of her family went to Brown but she failed the interview and it seems that experience bonds her parents with her brother. Also, as a female athlete she didn't have time to learn flirting and make-up and all the stuff other girls do at school/college so she feels like 'one of the guys'.

Skylar is in love with her brother's best friend, but he doesn't seem to notice her - except when Robbie is paying her attention, so they agree to fake date. Robbie will use his extensive experience with women to coach Skylar (who has VERY limited experience with men) whilst making her crush jealous AND he will be her partner at her family's annual Page Stakes, a wilderness competition which risks life and limb.

Robbie has been struck by insta-lurve and although he is supposed to be helping Skylar snag the man of her dreams he is secretly hoping that he can make her forget the other guy.

I enjoyed this, but the high steam factor kind of clashed with the sweetness of Robbie really 'seeing' Skylar and supporting her.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.


View all my reviews

Review: Pucking Strong

Pucking Strong by Emily Rath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Teddy has just got his dream job as a junior physiotherapist for the Jackson Rays (ice hockey) where he interned six years ago. He might also have a bit of an unrequited crush on Henrik Karlsson, the team's Swedish forward.

Then tragedy strikes, Henrik's sister and niece are involved in a car accident, his sister dies and his niece Karolina is injured in a Swedish hospital. Teddy volunteers to accompany Henrik and help him bring the girl back to the USA. However, there's a problem, the authorities are reluctant to allow an unmarried man to take a Swedish national out of the country, particularly when he himself will be away from home a lot playing hockey.

In the heat of the moment Teddy suggests an old fashioned marriage of convenience, even though he has no idea whether Henrik is straight or gay. He doesn't travel with the team so he can be at home with Karolina, and as a qualified physio he can assist with any rehab she might need. Once the Swedish authorities allow Henrik to adopt Karolina they can dissolve the marriage.

I really enjoyed this, probably a bit more spicy than I was expecting, but the story was very sweet overall.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Book of the Month

Book of the Month by Jennifer Probst
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Aspen is a vey wealthy writer who has never again achieved the success of her first book, a book written out of the despair she felt when her married boyfriend (and her college professor to boot) dumped her. Since then her books have been good but don't resonate with her audience - all of whom are demanding she writes the sequel since the first book did not end in a HEA.

She leaves New York to spend the Summer with her older sister (who practically raised her) in the Outer Banks, desperate to write a best-selling novel, and decides the only way to do it is recreate the drama of her first book, ie fall in love and have it fall apart catastrophically.

Brick had dreams of a big city job, but when his grandfather took sick and died he came home and took over his grandfather's failing tour guide business convinced he could make it profitable. Some time later he is failing. Worse, he has a reputation in town as a womaniser, heck there's even a weekly support group for women he's dated and dumped!

Aspen thinks Brick would be the perfect man to fall in love with and have her heart broken. He's handsome, grumpy, and most definitely not boyfriend material. However, he seems determined to swerve her advances, until she makes him an offer he can't refuse - enough cash to save his business and bring it up to date.

But what starts as a business transaction becomes real pretty fast, but if Aspen is going to write another bestseller it must come with an expiry date.

This would have rated higher if the story weren't ridden roughshod over by the smexy times - too much for me. It was a bit Gilmore GIrls where everyone has a story, Aspen's sister is clearly going to have her own book shortly, and there is an unusually high number of young single people for a small town.

A Kindle freebie when bought.

View all my reviews

Review: Murder on the Italian Riviera

Murder on the Italian Riviera by T.A. Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Finally I've got around to reading the seventh book in this series (I've read all eleven other books published to date or almost published in the case of book 12).

Dan (a former Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector, now turned Private Investigator in Italy) is contacted by a woman who he helped to put in prison. Her father is Italian and runs an upmarket holiday camp. A guest was found floating in the communal swimming pool, the local police are convinced that he had too much to drink and fell, hitting his head and falling into the pool where he drowned, just a tragic accident, but she and her father believe he was murdered.

Dan agrees to travel to the camp on the French border and spend a couple of days investigating with his trusty black Labrador Oscar, only to discover that the camp is actually a naturist resort! Nevertheless, Dan braves his fears and starts interviewing the other guests and there seem to be several suspects. The pool widens when Dan's call to a former colleague reveals that the victim was an MI6 operative. Was the motive love/jealousy (apparently he was a ladies man), or was it connected to his job? Dan also discovers that the victim was born in the former Eastern Germany and his parents were killed by the Stasi - deaths he had vowed to avenge - could that play into his murder?

This was an enjoyable mystery, typical of the series, full of luscious descriptions of food and wine - definitely going to try a Nebbiolo next time I'm in a restaurant.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

View all my reviews

Review: Snowflakes Over Starr's Fall: Spend Christmas in the breathtakingly beautiful small town of Starr's Fall with million-copy bestselling author Kate Hewitt

Snowflakes Over Starr's Fall: Spend Christmas in the breathtakingly beautiful small town of Starr's Fall with million-copy bestselling author Kate Hewitt by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Jenna runs Millers Mercantile in Starr's Fall. She left home to follow a city slicker, it all went horribly wrong and she returned to Starr's Fall determined never to change for a man ever again. Unfortunately that attitude has somehow become entwined with the store and she refuses to countenance any changes, even though the store is slowly going downhill.

Jack was a Venture Capitalist in New York and made his first million by the time he was twenty. However, he has recently had a heart attack and developed a stomach ulcer. His doctor warned him he would be dead in five years unless he made some sweeping changes to his lifestyle. Jack has bought a five-bedroom architect-designed house on the lake in Starr's Fall to be closer to his mother who has Alzheimer's and is in a local care home, but without his 24/7 work work work lifestyle he is feeling bereft, and the doctor prescribed bland diet isn't helping.

When Jack wanders into Millers Mercantile looking for smoked salmon he is visibly dismissive of the old-fashioned store, the limited stock, and the general air of neglect. For her part, Jenna sees a city slicker with a Rolex and a Porsche and associates him with her ex. Words are spoken. Jack writes a one star review. Jenna trash talks him to her friends.

However, they both realise they have overstepped a line and call a truce. Jack offers to give Jenna some assistance in updating the store, and Jenna accepts.

Can a city slicker and a country mouse fall in love? Can Jack leave the bright lights and the action behind? Can Jenna get over her mistrust of city boys?

This was pleasant enough, although the conflict at the end felt a bit false and rushed.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: An Academic Affair

An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have been bitter rivals since practically the first day of college. For fifteen years they have competed for everything, top of the class, teaching positions, grants, you name it. What both of them want, but neither has, is a permanent teaching position. Meanwhile, the two of them have somehow ended in a house-share *and* co-teach some literature classes. Sadie's speciality is modern romance (ie populist) whereas Jonah's is more traditional Shakespearian drama and the like. Also, at their graduation, Sadie's sister got into a screaming argument with Jonah's father.

Sadie didn't have the greatest start in life, her father left them when she was very young and their mother checked out of parental responsibilities so she was practically raised by her older sister Francesca ('Chess'). As a consequence, money is tight and the two sisters are very close.

Jonah on the other hand comes from a family of academics, his father is famous and his mother was a student/researcher in his father's classes. However, he is not close to any of his family, his father forced them to participate in debates at meal times and pitted sibling against sibling.

Fast forward, Jonah is trying to be a better brother and all round person. He hates the privilege he receives as a middle class white male with connections and tries to be an ally to Sadie (and other females) wherever possible.

When Jonah's father lets slip that his older sister's husband has left her and their two small children for his other secret family, Jonah wants to do whatever he can to help, but being in Sydney while she lives in Tasmania is difficult. Then a teaching job comes up in Hobart which seems perfect. The only trouble is the successful candidate will have expertise in one of four areas, including Shakespearian drama and modern romance. Could this be their fiercest contest?

The employment contract has a clause agreeing to spousal hire (if they are in a similar field) so Sadie concocts a plot to get married, that way Jonah can move to Hobart to be near his sister - after all they have been living together (platonically) for years. But working together every day and spending evenings at home may change things forever.

Told from both POVs, this was a fun romance, with plenty of references to romantic tropes and plot devices (eg forced to share a bed, marriage of convenience etc). As always, great to get some recommendations of other romances to read and/or validation of your reading choices.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Hitwoman: The new action-packed hilarious thriller rom-com for 2025

Hitwoman: The new action-packed hilarious thriller rom-com for 2025 by Elsie Marks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Maisie Baxter is a hitwoman for Novum, a boutique 'ethical' assassination service. She founded the organisation with her boss Gabby, a minor celebrity and charity advocate (think Spring Watch and Save the Hedgehogs), they have expanded and now have a second assassin, Owen (good looking but not very bright), a tech guy, Jason, and an admin person Sophie. One of Novum's key tenets is that Maisie (or Owen) can veto a target if they don't consider them to have committed a heinous crime, something Maisie is very proud of, and she loves that Gabby respects her choices.

When we meet Maisie she is on a job for a mysterious anonymous client (not so odd as who wants a team of assassins to know your name) who is also very specific about what they want Maisie to do and when and how, including arranging for her exfiltration. The job goes without a hitch and later the team are introduced to the mysterious client, Pascal Robertson, elusive billionaire CEO of ILS, a company which has created the world's first green fertiliser. Pascal has discovered that some of his senior management have been selling the fertiliser illegally to terrorist organisations to help them make bombs and he is determined to root out all the bad eggs ... the permanent way.

The following week, Maisie (in disguise) is headed to a Young Farmer's Festival where one of ILS's board is giving a keynote speech. She has orders to assassinate him during that speech. After setting up the tent for the following morning she joins the festivities at the bar and bumps into a handsome man who looks as out of place as she feels, the strong cider helps them form an instant connection and they end up spending the night together. The next day, Maisie watches as the ILS director is making his speech, ready to (literally) push the button, when suddenly a light fitting swings down towards him, killing him instantly. Coincidence? Or is there more than one team of assassins hired? Could it be someone from Removals Inc, Novum's main competitor who would kill their own mother if the price was right?

But when the same guy turns up at Maisie's next hit, she realises sweet, shy Will could be working for the opposition.

This gave off similar vibes to the Brangelina film Mr and Mrs Smith, and probably for that reason I did enjoy it, but it didn't feel very original.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.


View all my reviews

Review: Cairo Gambit

Cairo Gambit by S.W. Perry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Its 1938, Europe is on the brink of war. Primrose Nevendon lives a rather Bohemian lifestyle as a freelance stage designer with her Italian mother and a collection of artists and philospohers that call themselves (rather grandly) the Bevern Fraternity. Her father Archie left them when she was small and she has barely seen or heard from him since. He is now a director of Anglo-Levantine Oil in Cairo whilst also running his late brother Nim's theatre.

Then two Special Branch police officers come calling, Archie has gone missing in Egypt and they are concerned that he might have sold secrets about British oil pipelines and the like to the Germans and/or Italians, especially since Prim herself was briefly a member of the British Union of Fascists until she realised that they were just as bad as the Communists and didn't really want change for the masses - just for the leaders.

Prim decides to travel to Egypt to find her father. On the long air journey she meets Harry Taverner, ostensibly with the British Council to bring British arts and science to Egypt, but in reality to babysit Prim and see whether they can find Archie (or if she knows where he is). Also on board is Mike Luzzatto, an American Jew who deals in real estate, although his real motive is buying land for Jewish settlement.

When she gets to Cairo, Prim discovers that there are a lot of people looking for Archie, some of them not at all nice. The theatre manager was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered to find some clues as to where he might be - but no-one knows.

In their attempts to find Archie, Prim and Harry are drawn into the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews, and both sides' antipathy towards the British. It seems as though Archie may have been trying to play both sides and it spectacularly backfired.

The author had clearly done a lot of historical research but honestly most of the time it felt like a bewildering hotchpotch of politics and all I really got out of it was that all sides were pretty unpleasant, prepared to sanction absolutely anything to the cause as collateral damage - that may also have been a product of the times where extremism was rampant across the world. The story itself got subsumed in the politics and felt like a bit of a damp squib, I was left with the feeling of 'so what?'.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Murder on an Italian Island

Murder on an Italian Island by t a williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Virgilio invites Dan, Anna and of course Oscar to Elba for a holiday with him and his wife, staying at a swanky hotel where his (sort of) cousin Rita is the manager. Unfortunately there is an unpleasant incident on the first night, a very drunk man comes over and deliberately throws a glass of red wine over Virgilio. Apparently the man, Ignazio, abducted and raped four women in Puglia many years ago, and had been sentenced to twenty years in prison, seeing Virgilio again made him very angry and things could have escalated if Dan hadn't stepped in. The guys are debating whether to move to a different hotel to avoid the man when one of the surf instructors comes running in - they have found a body washed up on the rocks ... it's none other than Ignazio, and Virgilio apparently had another run in with him later that night. Since the body was found on the hotel's private beach, which can only be accessed through the hotel or a locked gate, it seems clear that if it is murder it must have been one of the guests or staff.

Soon Dan and Virgilio are working hard to determine whether Ignazio fell to his own death because he was so drunk (they ruled out suicide as he seemed to feel no remorse), or whether he was pushed, maybe by a relative of one of the girls he attacked?

Then Dan finds another body in the sea. are the deaths connected? An accident seems far less likely now there are two bodies.

This was very good, I was convinced I knew who was the murderer but I was completely wrong - they were never even a suspect!

However, I am trying to eat more healthily and having to read the descriptions of the huge meals Dan eats is making it hard for me to make good choices.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days: A Novel

How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days: A Novel by Sophie Irwin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Miss Lydia Hanworth is surprised when Lord Ashton proposes marriage to her, they'd barely spoken previously, and before she can politely decline her aunt and uncle assume it's a done deal. The only saving grace is that Ashton wants to keep the engagement a secret until his father can announce it at a masked ball his cousin Phoebe is throwing in two weeks time.

Lydia's aunt and uncle have threatened her that if she messes this engagement up she will be sent to live with aunt Mildred - a fate worse than death - so she determines she must get Ashton to cry off instead - and ten days spent at his cousin's country house will be just the right opportunity.

As the title might suggest, this book draws heavily on the film How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days as Lydia behaves oddly, wear eccentric clothing, uses inappropriate language and (frankly) lies through her teeth. At first Ashton is perplexed, what happened to the quiet, well-behaved girl he met in London, but when he discovers her true motivation this means war!

Throw in a scheming mama, a strange host, a twin brother with a Sherlock Holmes obsession, a stolen diamond necklace, a widow on the prowl, a young lordling, and a famous explorer who reminds me of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart from the Harry Potter books and you have a rip-roaring rom-com.

I have no idea when this is supposed to be set, the clothing on the cover looks early 1800s but Lydia's twin brother is clearly emulating Sherlock Holmes. Also, Wikipedia tells me that bananas didn't become common items until the 1880s when Fyffes began importing bananas from the Canary Islands to the UK through Southampton Docks (one of Lydia's dresses is compared to a banana). But, if you can suspend disbelief at the language which is used and the ambiguity as to the historical setting this was a fun read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages

Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages by Jenny Colgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Meet Janey and Essie Carter, mother and daughter respectively. Janey loves living in the tiny town of Carso, working in the local hospital as an audiologist whereas Essie couldn't wait to get away to the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh. But then it all falls apart, Essie's employer is moving to Switzerland and there's no position for her, also she's been there less than two years so she doesn't qualify for redundancy. With no new job on the horizon, realising she has huge credit card debts, and can't afford her flat share Essie reluctantly decides to move back to Carso and her mum's tiny cottage, since her posh boyfriend Connor doesn't seem willing to let her stay with him and his colleague Tris.

Janey is thrilled to have Essie back home, even if her daughter blames her for the divorce and finds fault with everything, but soon Essie's messiness, unwillingness to do anything around the cottage, and slovenly appearance are driving her to drink.

Luckily, Janey's son Al persuades Essie to join them and Janey's colleagues down the one remaining pub for a quiz night, where Janey runs into the father of one of her former patients, and Al and Essie catch up with their old school friend Dwight (who developed a love of country and western clothing as a child and doesn't seem to have dropped it) who has been working the oil rigs. Dwight has just bought the three dilapidated cottages next to Janey's and intends to do them up and sell them, but after five minutes talking to him Essie realises he hasn't the first clue about budgeting or decorating and volunteers herself as project manager.

Meanwhile, Janey's former patient's father's dog has had puppies in one of the cottages. Lowell is totally clueless and enlists Janey's help with caring for the puppies, which she helped to birth after the first one got stuck.

This was just charming from start to finish. As a woman of Janey's age I identified more with her, especially since Essie came across as a spoilt brat at first, but it was just charming, sweet, funny, all the feels.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Births, Deaths and Marriages

Births, Deaths and Marriages by Laura Barnett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Six people meet at university - specifically at the funeral for a man/boy who was killed in a car accident just a few weeks into term. They spend the next few years inseparable, several of them share a house, and as is perhaps inevitable with young people away from home, there is a lot of secret hooking up, being in love with someone who's in love with someone else, etc, etc.

Fast forward twenty years. Zoe and Rob got pregnant while still at university, got married but subsequently divorced when their son Gabe was five years old. Rancour over, Rob is soon to be married for a second time to a wealthy architect, Rob is a teacher and Zoe is a midwife in Herne Bay, Kent.

Yas, the working class girl with a single mother is now an NHS surgeon.

Al, who was in love with Zoe at university was married, but his wife Estelle died, following which he gave up his job and started working at the family undertakers in Beckenham, Kent.

Indie, who was in love with Al at university, has created a successful coffee business, she is married to Xavier (not one of the university six), who was a successful chef until COVID, when his restaurant went bust.

Finally Rachel, who is married with two small boys. Her husband Mark runs a successful gym business.

Over the past twenty years the tight knit group have drifted apart, particularly after Estelle's funeral, but the invite to Rob's engagement party brings them all back together. In a year there will be a baby, a wedding, a death, a divorce, and other upheavals.

This is described as Four Weddings and a Funeral meets One Day and I can sort of see why, it's also a lot like Cold Feet. After a rocky start, the introductory chapter was quite turgid and I didn't have a clue about anyone, this quickly became a great read - I think it would be even better as a film or a TV series. Laura Barnett did a good job of keeping the characters separate (after the first chapter) which is not easy to do when there is a main cast of six plus spouses/children to remember.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Dark in Death

Dark in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The 46th outing for this gritty detective series set in the future.

Detective Eve Dallas is called out when a woman is found murdered in the cinema whilst watching the re-run of a classic film, stabbed in the back of the neck with an ice-pick. Her friend had only stepped away for a couple of minutes to answer a page (she was on call). But the plot thickens! A famous author comes into the police station, she is afraid that this murder bears a striking similarity to the murder in the second of her detective novels, and she has also noted an earlier murder of a licensed companion also mirrors the murder in her first book. The only thing is the murderer in the first book was a woman and in the second it was a man. But then looking at the footage from the cinema Eve notices that there are striking similarities between a man and a woman they catch on camera - it appears their murderer likes to don disguises.

After interviewing the author Eve is convinced, the third novel concerns the murder of a rock star's former girlfriend, one famous for all the wrong things, who could drag him down to her level if they get back together. Eve gets her team to profile likely skanky ex-girlfriends, sadly there are several, and warns each of them to look out for a woman matching the description in the novel.

I enjoyed this novel, why do all the books I read from this series seem to happen when its bitterly cold? The premise was interesting and kept me engaged. There were lots of promising leads which turned into dead ends. My only gripe is (and this is only based on the two books I have read recently) that there seems to be a need for several murders before the murderer is caught and there needs to be a showdown where they rescue the latest victim in the nick of time - maybe if I read more of the other 57 books I haven't yet read I may find that is just a coincidence in these two.

Also, who doesn't want to read about a future where a New York cop can marry a former thief billionaire and has an Auto Chef in her car which can dispense a multitude of drinks?

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Question of Guilt

Question of Guilt by Sally Rigby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sebastian Clifford and Lucinda ‘Birdie’ Bird are private investigators, he's the son of a lord and has recently discovered he has a teenage daughter at university. She's bisexual. They have both left the Police, although she is only thirty. This si the seventh book in the series, none of which I have read before, but it is easy enough to read as a standalone.

Daryl Brackstone approaches the duo, her mother Helen was murdered decades ago by ingesting cyanide and her father was convicted of her murder. Her father died in prison a year ago and a true crime blogger has approached Daryl with evidence that her father may have been wrongly convicted and Daryl wants the duo to uncover the truth.

As they dig deeper it seems that Helen Brackstone was not just a middleclass suburban housewife, she was also a founding member of a group of activists which protested cronyism and investigated corruption. It seems one or both of the detectives assigned to the murder may, at best, have cut corners believing they had a slam dunk suspect, and at worst deliberately framed an innocent man.

Then Birdie starts getting threatening messages and is run off the road by another car - evidently their investigations are getting close to the truth.

This was an interesting detective story. It helped enormously that Birdie is still friendly with her former partner and Sarge so can draw on their knowledge and resources. Similarly, Seb has friends in high places and his father knows a lot of important people, so can effect introductions or provide insights into character.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

View all my reviews

Review: We Could Be Heroes

We Could Be Heroes by Philip Ellis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Will is an English openly gay man who works in a bookshop by day and is trying to make a name for himself on the Birmingham drag queen circuit by night.

Patrick is an American actor, famous for portraying Captain Kismet (sort of Flash Gordon, All American hero who accidentally gets launched into space and finds himself on a strange planet) in a superhero movie, he is in Birmingham filming some additional scenes for Kismet 2 and this film could catapult him into the big leagues (think Marvel franchise). His agent has always told him he can be openly gay or he can be a successful movie star and he has heeded that advice, so much so that he hasn't had a relationship in four years.

One night Patrick's co-star, his stunt man and his nutritionist persuade him to come out on the town and their taxi driver takes them to a gay bar where Will's friends are performing and Will is serving cheap shots as a roving drag queen waitress. They meet ... and the rest is history.

The story is interspersed with flashbacks to 1949 and the husband and wife duo who originally wrote the Kismet comics, their imaginations envisaged a world where they could be their authentic selves whilst having to hide who they really were in real life.

I enjoyed this (sort of). My problem is that it didn't really know what it wanted to be. Is it a romance? Is it a political statement about the way in which current society appears to be reverting back to 1950s views about repressing homosexuality and anything other than heterosexual behaviour? Is it about some idea that stories transport us to other worlds and open our minds to things being different? I don't know and that was the problem for me. Then everything had a lovely happy ever after all wrapped up in a nice bow.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Bones of the Buried

Bones of the Buried by David Roberts
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lord Edward Corinth returns from six months in New York, single once more after his love affair with Lord Weaver's daughter fizzled out. No sooner is he home than Verity Browne comes knocking, she has been in Spain reporting on the fight between the Republic and the fascists with her on-again, off-again boyfriend and Communist Party leader David Griffith-Jones but David has been arrested and convicted of murdering fellow communist Godfrey Tilney, who coincidentally was at Eton with Edward. Verity has come to beg Edward to come to Madrid and help clear David's name. Meanwhile, Basil Thoroughgood from the Foreign Office asks Edward to extend an offer to David, the FO will help him if he agrees to pass on information to them, aka spy.

Soon the body count is mounting, including another fellow Old Etonian, who also happened to be the father of Edward's nephew's best friend. Edward can't help but feel that the deaths of several Old Etonians must have a connection and he is determined to discover the truth.

I think I can only echo others' reviews. I didn't realise that one of the characters was a very thinly veiled Ernest Hemingway (mainly because I have zero interest in him), but it does explain why the character featured so heavily.

I felt that the tension was missing because of the prologue which have the link between the victims and then it was a case of dangling one red herring after another as to the identity of the murderer(s). Also, I feel that the only reason we know the answer is because the murderer(s) confessed, otherwise it could have been another red herring.

Also, both Edward and Verity are becoming unlikeable characters. Apparently he is in love with Verity, despite having lived in New York for six months with another woman, thought he was in love with a second woman, and then had a sexual relationship with a third woman, to pass the time. Indeed, while watching a production of Love's Labour Lost he muses that he could never be celibate for three years in the pursuit of love. Verity on the other hand appears to be easily led and treated as a propaganda and sexual favours machine by David, whilst leaning on Edward and then complaining about him.

I enjoy the historical details about the murky politics on left and right, but I'm not sure how much longer I will continue with the series.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

View all my reviews

Review: A Schooling in Murder: The gripping new WWII historical mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London

A Schooling in Murder: The gripping new WWII historical mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's 1945. Monkshill Park School for Girls is one of those establishments that appeals to the snobbish while treating the girls as unpaid skivvies and worse than children in an orphanage (although TBH that might just be the food in the 1940s in England LOL).

The book is narrated by Annabel Warnock, a teacher at the school who went away on holiday and never returned. Her fellow teachers assume she just left but we and Annabel know she didn't leave, she was murdered (by person(s) unknown), pushed over a cliff, and her body has been swept down river and out to sea.

For some unknown reason, Annabel can move about freely within the school grounds IF she had visited that place before her death, but if she hadn't previously entered a room, she can't now.

The school is a Petrie dish, all those female hormones inclose proximity. There are same sex relationships, conducted in secret for fear of being sacked, bullying by some girls, blackmail, poison pen letters, theft, intimidation, you name it.

Alec Shaw, the first male ever male teacher at the school, has come as a substitute teacher. Annabel discovers that he is the only person she can communicate with as she can 'hijack' his typing when he is typing his fledgling detective story. After a number of false starts she manages to convince him that she is not a figment of her subconscious, and enlists him in her search for her murderer. But the list of suspects is long. Could it be the surly gardener/former poacher who goes by the charming nickname 'Tosser'? What about the surly young nephew of the school cook Stephen who Annabel was trying to get into a local boys' grammar school? What about the local deserter Sam Crisp, son of the school cleaner? Could it be one of the school bullies Venetia and Rosemary? Could it be someone from Annabel's past - she had impressive qualifications but was forced to take the job at Monkshill after an unfortunate incident at her school?

I have loved Andrew Taylor's Ashes of London series so when I saw this new historical mystery I jumped at the chance to request an ARC. All I can say is 'huh?'. I don't really get this and I am left with a vague suspicion that it is misogynistic - although thinking about it the only character of any note who comes across as even halfway decent is Alec Shaw - and he has spent time in prison for embezzlement - so maybe it is just a book filled with unlikeable characters. Even characters who were supposedly friends turn out not to be.

I turned to my husband when I was 85% through this book on my Kindle and said 'I don't understand the point of this book' and I have to say after finishing it I am still baffled. I think the idea of having a 'ghost' able to overhear other peoples' discussions and/or read private correspondence felt too omnipotent and then this had to be reined back with the odd rule that she couldn't visit somewhere she hadn't before, and couldn't leave the school grounds. Also, why was she a ghost but there weren't any others drifting around?

Also, I thought the murderer's identity was fairly obvious, despite the plethora of red herrings, I just thought the motive was a bit left field.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Sweet Poison

Sweet Poison by David Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's 1935 and the Duke of Mersham and his wife Connie have invited a select group of men to stay at Mersham Castle with the aim of reaching some kind of accord about the relationship between Germany and the UK. He has invited Lord Weaver, the press baron, together with his wife Blanche and daughter Hermione, war veteran General Sir Alistair Craig VC, an up-and-coming conservative MP Peter Larmore and his wife Celia, peace campaigner Bishop Cecil Haycroft and his wife Honoria, and the new under secretary at the German Embassy Baron Helmut von Friedberg.

To occupy the petulant Honoria, whose paramour Charlie Lomax declined an invitation at the last minute, the Duke has strong-armed his younger brother, Lord Edward Corinth to come down for dinner. Edward may look like a typical feckless aristocrat, more money than sense, but in fact he has a keen brain and loves to test himself physically.

On the way down, running late and consequently driving too fast, Edward crashes his car and is rescued by a journalist, Verity Browne, who claims to be from Country Life, writing a series on English castles. Grateful for her assistance, Edward invites Verity to spend the night at the Castle rather than in the nearby hotel. However, shortly after their arrival, as Verity is entertaining everyone with the tale of their meet-cute, the General suddenly starts choking and dies at the table. While all the other guests are sure he has had a heart attack, Edward and Verity aren't so sure, Edward thinks it bears all the hallmarks of cyanide poisoning - something the doctor subsequently confirms.

Eager to avoid publicity, everyone, including the police plays down the death, suggesting the General may have committed suicide, or perhaps mistaken his old army cyanide pill for the painkillers he was taking. But unconvinced Verity and Edward join forces, despite him discovering that she is actually a member of the Communist Party and a journalist for the Daily Worker.

As other reviews have said, Edward bears a resemblance to Lord Peter Wimsey (right down to the apartment in Albany), although Verity is more like some of the characters Lord Peter encounters on some of his adventures.

I did enjoy this, perhaps marred slightly for me by a brutal event close to the end - I understand its purpose etc but it did upset me a little (reading late at night). Otherwise, I am interested to see where this will go and have already downloaded the second book.

Also, I really like the new covers - definitely a factor in my decision to download the book.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

View all my reviews

Review: One Final Turn: An Electra McDonnell Novel

One Final Turn: An Electra McDonnell Novel by Ashley Weaver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A satisfying end (I believe) to an enjoyable series.

Electra (Ellie) McDonnell is the niece of a locksmith, the family also has a less legal occupation as safecrackers and thieves. Electra was recruited/blackmailed into assisting Major Ramsay in certain top secret work, and she fell in love with him. However, after a steamy kiss, and a brush with near death, he not only rejected her, but sacked her into the bargain.

Ellie has recently heard that her cousin Toby may have escaped from a German POW camp and be making his way home via Portugal, coincidentally Captain Archie Blandings, a British intelligence officer based in Portugal, is keen to get more information about the route escapees are using to get from France to Portugal, he agrees to help Ellie get to Portugal, unfortunately Major Ramsay will also be part of the team.

It seems as though every clue Ellie and Archie find to help them contact the local resistance is a bust, clearly someone is watching them and getting to the resistance before them. Can they find Toby and rescue him before the German agents recapture him?

I loved this, everything I wanted. All mysteries solved.

I can't wait to see what Ashley Weaver is going to do next.

View all my reviews

Review: The Fix-Up

The Fix-Up by Sharon M. Peterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Ellie Sterns is a twenty-eight year old with ADHD, and the mother of a six year old called Oliver. After an unremarkable career as an actress, and numerous short-lived romances, she was en route to her family home in Oklahoma when she stopped briefly in the town of Two Harts to see her brother and ended up staying. The local diner owner, grumpy Ollie, took pity on Ellie and gave her a job and a place to stay. Ollie has recently died and Ellie has been keeping things going as best she can, when she gets the amazing news that Ollie has left her the house and the diner. Unfortunately, Ollie only left her 50%, the other half has been left to his previously unknown grandson. The kicker is that to inherit the two of them must live in the house for six months.

The grandson, Gilbert, wants to sell and get out of Two Harts as quickly as he can, he doesn't understand why Ollie abandoned his wife and daughter and never got in contact with them when they were alive, an inheritance means nothing to him. Ellie on the other hand, has put down roots, the inheritance safeguards her job and her home, she'll resist any move to sell either of them, even if the local property developer is offering a vast sum for the large plot of land on which the house sits.

This is a classic, opposites-attract, enemies-to-love, small-town romance. After being very grumpy and leaving some less than enthused reviews recently this was a breath of fresh air. Yes it trod a familiar path, but it was fun, sweet, and an easy read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.


View all my reviews

Review: A Queer Case

A Queer Case by Robert Holtom
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's 1929, Selby Bigge is a lower middle-class banking clerk living in a grubby bedsit by day and haunting Hampstead Heath by night looking for men of a similar persuasion. One night he comes across an old acquaintance from Oxford, one with whom he shared a brief kiss which Selby has never forgotten. The acquaintance, Patrick Duker is bemoaning the fact that his father, the banking millionaire Sir Lionel Duker has married a much younger woman, an alleged gold-digger and Patrick hates her.

For reasons known only to himself, Patrick invites Selby to have dinner with his father and step-mother at the Ritz with the intention of getting 'proof' that his step-mother is evil/a gold digger. Their dinner is enlivened when a journalist makes a scene and accuses Lady Duker of stealing away his lover (her first husband who she subsequently divorced). The journalist also made several accusations about Sir Lionel before being ejected from the Ritz. Not withstanding all the excitement, Selby is then invited to Sir Lionel's' birthday dinner at his home on Hampstead Heath where he is faced with a bizarre group of guests, including an alcoholic General, Patrick's fiancé (!), and a female novelist with a chip on her shoulder. Just as the evening is breaking up, the journalist comes banging on the door, a row ensues and in the chaos one of the dinner party is found dead, strangled in the Billiards Room.

Selby notices a few oddities, which the Police seem uninterested in pursuing, so he undertakes his own investigation - but soon discovers nearly every person at the dinner had a motive for killing the victim.

I have read several K.J. Charles novels and very much enjoyed them so when I saw the premise of this book, and the gorgeous cover, I requested it immediately. However, Selby didn't really come across as a likeable character, and he also appeared very gullible - which seems odd given that homosexuality was illegal then and therefore his gaydar/antennae for Police entrapment should have been finely honed. Also, the balance between enlightening the reader as to the way in which homosexuality was viewed/ the underground gay scene and the detection felt wrong - too much explanation and not enough real detection (other than going around accusing everyone in turn).

I feel it has promise and I would probably request the next book in the series, hoping that having established the historical context the mystery would come to the fore. Having said that, there were clues to the murderer and I did suspect something of the sort early on (and kind of forgot again).

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Wild Love

Wild Love by Elsie Silver
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 76%.

I don't recall ever DNFing a book this late but I just can't stand it any longer. I even downloaded it AGAIN because I couldn't believe I hadn't read the first book in the series, because it sounded so good, only to find out I had got three quarters of the way through last time.

Older guy with child, best friend's little sister. Small town. Billionaire Ford Grant has just discovered he is the father of a twelve year old daughter, he's trying to open a recording studio in small town Rose Hill, so when his best friend's little sister Rosie comes home begging for a job he reluctantly hires her. Blah blag forbidden fruit.

She busted up his office - to get his attention - the smexy times gave me the ick and then she deliberately trod paint (which he was using to repair his office) into the floor - what is she five? Just no, no, no. I'd have called the police.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.



View all my reviews

Review: A Cornish Love Story: The perfect brand-new escapist and romantic standalone novel for summer 2025 from the million-copy best-selling author

A Cornish Love Story: The perfect brand-new escapist and romantic standalone novel for summer 2025 from the million-copy best-selling author by Cressida McLaughlin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Georgie Munroe grew up in small-town Cornwall, she loved the Rosevar family saga romance novels of the local author S.E. Artemis which were set in her beautiful cliff-top home Alperton House, which was called Tyller Klos. But the series ended thirty years ago with the last pair of lovers separated by the Atlantic Ocean, the author left her home and never wrote again. Georgie had plans to be a writer but her mother's MS meant she had to leave university after just one term to support her.

Since then Alperton House fell into disrepair, indeed as an adventurous teenager Georgie and her friends explored the half-derelict house and told each other ghost stories in the gloomy rooms.

As an adult Georgie works part-time as a journalist for a local newspaper and also as an assistant to Spence, (drum roll) none other than S.E. Artemis. Alperton House has been bought by a developer and a team have been hard at work transforming it beyond recognition, but Georgie gets a shock when she discovers the architect is none other than her childhood sweetheart Ethan Sparks. Encouraged/forced by both her employers to cover the open day for Alperton House, now renamed Sterenlenn, Georgie is both hopeful and terrified of seeing him after all that went down between them.

I have read and enjoyed previous books by this author so, despite having already requested another contemporary romance set in Cornwall I duly requested this one. Unfortunately, this book didn't really work for me, Georgie and Ethan's romance and break-up were told in flashback (which I have decided annoys me more often than I enjoy it after having two books in succession that use this device) and at the end of it it all seemed like a storm in a tea-cup and the two of them were wetter than a wet weekend in Manchester. Throw in a smart house with a mind of its own which locks Ethan and Georgie in the house and my eyes were rolling so far back I could see the inside of my skull.

Perfect for someone less cynical to read as a beach second-chance romance.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: Copper Script

Copper Script by K.J. Charles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Its post WW1, Detective Sergeant Aaron Fowler is part of the Metropolitan Police, he has struggled to overcome two obstacles, his adopted father who was a firebrand unionist, and his aristocratic relations on his mother's side. One if his aristocratic cousins, Paul, comes to him complaining that a charlatan graphologist by the name of Joel Wildsmith has broken up his engagement to a wealthy society heiress by telling a pack of lies and he wants Aaron to investigate/prosecute.

Joel lost his left hand during the war, just his luck that he was left-handed to begin with. Jobs are short on the ground for the able-bodied, let alone a one-handed man who can barely write, but he discovered a knack of understanding people's feelings/emotions through reading their handwriting and he is scratching a living at it.

When Fowler goes to confront Joel he goes undercover with three samples of handwriting to analyse and is shocked by the accuracy of the reading. Convinced there is a trick of some kind, he and a colleague devise a blind test, the colleague will select an ongoing case at random and provide samples of handwriting from several suspects, Fowler will add some control samples from non-suspects and the samples will be numbered. Joel will read each of the samples and give his impressions. The samples and Joel's impressions (written down by Fowler) will be placed in an envelope and sealed pending the successful resolution of the case.

The results are astounding, Joel's reading were amazingly accurate, but it's his chilling reading of one of the control samples that causes consternation. Can Joel and Fowler expose a powerful criminal before he catches up with them?

I loved this, as I love everything KJ writes. It feels like it might be the start of a series and I couldn't be happier.

View all my reviews

Review: Lessons in Life: A funny, fabulous read from Julie Houston

Lessons in Life: A funny, fabulous read from Julie Houston by Julie Houston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the second in a series, I haven't read the first book (I've started it but not finished), but it can be read as a standalone. I also note that there is a third book (at least) in the offing.

Robyn Allen is a former West End dancer who tore her ACL and is now back at home in Beddingfield as a supply teacher. She had been seeing Fabien Carrington, an aristocratic high-flying defence criminal lawyer, but they split up and she had a brief affair with the head teacher at the school where she works.

Robyn's older sister Jess runs a care home at Hudson House, although her ambition has always been to be a chef, a teenage pregnancy put paid to those ambitions, although she has recently won a cooking competition.

Robyn's youngest sister Sorrel is still at school, Robyn's school in fact, and is seeing a young man from a troubled family who may be involved in County Lines.

Lisa, Robyn's mother, is adopted. She is of half-Indian and half-English heritage but doesn't know much more because her adoptive parents were secretive and also ashamed of Lisa's mixed heritage. Lisa has been a single mother since she was a teenager, although the girls' father is still in the picture and has supported Lisa financially. He's a semi-famous musician who prefers life on the road to domesticity. Lisa has suffered from Porphyria for most of her adult life, which has left her weak and subject to bouts of being bedridden, but recently a new treatment has given her a new lease of life.

Interspersed with the narrative about Lisa and her three daughters is an historical narrative involving Eloise Hudson, daughter of a wealthy manufacturer, who used to love at Hudson House as a child and is now a resident suffering from dementia.

If you've read any previous Julie Houston novels, particularly the Westenbury books, then this is very familiar. Multiple stories, multiple protagonists, several strands left unfinished for the next book, on-again, off-again relationships, County Lines, etc. For me, I wasn't really invested in any of the characters enough and every time I did start to be engaged we would abruptly switch to the 1960s and I would lose the thread again.

Overall, this felt very much like a middle book, it sort of ended abruptly with new beginnings in the offing for most of the Allen family, but how long that will last is anyone's guess.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

View all my reviews

Review: The Elopement

The Elopement by Gill Hornby
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 35%.

I requested this book because I had seen adverts for the TV mini series Miss Austen which had intrigued me and the blurb looked interesting.

Sadly, I am 35% through the book and I can't decide if it is intended to be funny (because it isn't), or who is supposed to be the main character. Indeed, I have just read the blurb as I start to write this review and I have discovered that the FMC is still a thirteen year old child, so far most of the book has been from the POV of her stepmother.

Anyway, I'm over a third through the book, none of it resembles the blurb, and I don't like the writing tone so I am giving up.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.



View all my reviews