Review: The Burial Place

The Burial Place by Stig Abell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Jake is consulted by the local archaeological dig, they have been receiving flowery threats from someone who claims to be a local folk hero, quoting verses from the bible. The dig is being televised in a long-running series. Separately, close to the dig, four of the archaeologists were lucky enough to discover a treasure hoard worth millions whilst metal detecting, although their trove is subject to identifying the owner of the land (who would be entitled to half the proceeds). Coincidentally, Rose (the local weed dealer)'s sister is one of the students at the dig. No sooner does Jake get involved than one of the diggers dies after drinking poison from a water bottle. Now Jake must assist the local police in investigating the murder and uncovering the identity of their letter-writer.

This is the third book in the series about Jake Jackson, a former police detective, who inherits a remote house in the English countryside, full of mod-cons such as a purpose-built library with speakers in the ceiling but no indoor bathroom. Despite the tiny size of the village, which is (apparently) exclusively populated by knuckle-dragging yokels, a middle-aged shopkeeper who also runs an underground (literally) bar, and a beautiful single-mother vet, Livia, there seems to be a disproportionate amount of violent crime. I enjoyed the first book, despite the somewhat lurid descriptions of Livia's body and public hair. I missed the second book, but I am pleased to announce I saw no references to pubic hair in this book, although the first third had an unusually high number of references to peoples clothes FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON eg Jake weas wearing beige shorts and a white vest - then it goes on to something else - why? Again, luckily, this dissipated.

I enjoyed the mystery, although Jake's group of rag-tag super sleuths is beginning to look alarmingly like the cast of the excellent Slough House series - beware if Jake starts farting LOL. What let this down for me was that I suspected the murderer almost from the start, unfortunately I can't say why without spoilering it, so I was alert to the other clues and felt a bit like rolling my eyes as Jake and his team went round and round in circles.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Edinburgh Murders

Edinburgh Murders by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Helen Crowther, a professional welfare officer for the newly formed National Health Service of Scotland, is at the public washhouse helping one of her patients to wash herself when there is a great commotion and it turns out that a corpse has been found in one of the men's changing rooms - he looks to have been boiled alive in his bath and left wearing a Tanner's apron!

What follows are a series of macabre murders. All the victims are well-fed men with no signs of hard work on their hands or bodies. Each is killed in a bizarre fashion and left dressed in some strange piece of clothing that seems to bear no relation to the place or manner of their deaths. One thing that unites the bodies is that they each have evidence that a pinkie ring has been removed from the body, and nobody has claimed them or reported them missing. By some strange chance, Helen is there when several of the bodies are found and she and her friend Billy who works at the morgue are trying to uncover both the identities of the victims and the murderer(s).

I really enjoyed this, my only gripe is that it ended very abruptly. Loving where this series is going, the glimpses into a forgotten world, the clash of the post-WW2 world meeting the pre-War beliefs. Honestly, I have pretty much loved everything Catriona McPherson has written.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Big Fix

The Big Fix by Holly James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Penny Collins has devoted her life to getting tenure, no time for love, and it is just within her grasp if she makes one big push this summer. She has agreed to spend the summer with her big sister helping with the children while working on the final articles/chapters etc.

Her sister drags her to an estate sale at the house next door - its clearly a setup to get her to meet the new neighbour Anthony, who has inherited the house and all its contents from his recently deceased Uncle Lou. Unfortunately Anthony seems immune to Penny's charms, in fact openly hostile, which might be explained when Penny's nephew opens a closet door and a dead body falls out. Suddenly everyone seems to think Penny is Anthony's girlfriend and a mysterious man keeps turning up and making vaguely threatening comments.

The next thing she knows, Penny has been kidnapped by a ruthless billionaire's henchman as bait to trap Anthony.

The blurb says Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard meets The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling in a modern blend of screwball action and romantic attraction when a case of mistaken identity lands a college professor on the run with a mysterious—and dangerously hot—fixer . . ., but I would say its a bit more like the Goldie Hawn film Bird on a Wire, or the Jennifer Aniston film The Bounty Hunter, by which I mean a vaguely irritating FMC.

Also, I found it difficult to believe in either Penny or Anthony because they seemed to change personas. One minute Penny is a mild-mannered professor, the next she can hack city IT systems. Is Anthony a bad-a$$ fixer or an accountant - he looks like the former but everything he does he seems to run into like a headless chicken requiring Penny to save him more often that not!

Overall, it was an okay read but I didn't believe in the characters.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Over the Sea to Skye

Over the Sea to Skye by Sue Moorcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

And so we come to Valentina, oldest of the three adopted Wynter sisters. Her husband Gary has left her, gallingly for Valentina's twenty-five year old assistant Miranda! Not only that, Gary and Miranda have changed their mobile numbers and persist in withholding the number when Gary calls Valentina so she has no way of getting in touch with him about their seven year old son Barnaby. Unable to face the sympathy of her colleagues, Valentina has taken voluntary redundancy and decided to spend the Summer at her holiday cottage on Skye whilst renting out the former marital home in Inverness.

On the train north, Valentina and Barnaby are sat opposite an American man Xander and his seventeen year old nephew Macdonald, they get talking, and when Zander's hire car is not ready for them when they reach Skye, Valentina offers to drive them to their accommodation. Despite the ten year age difference Barnaby and Macdonald hit it off immediately, bonding over video games. After a prickly start, Xander and Valentina also hit it off, but can it be anything more than a Summer romance when Xander needs to return to his job in Pittsburg after his sabbatical?

This was pleasant enough, throw in unreasonable in-laws, a recalcitrant teen, an ex who's 'found her voice' and a tragic accident and you have all the ingredients for a cosy romance. I enjoyed it, but I felt it dragged a bit towards the end and then finished abruptly.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.



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Review: The Best Men

The Best Men by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Argh! Read it and forgot to review it!

Mark is a bisexual, recently divorced father of one. They got pregnant at college so Mark's experience with men is limited. Annoyingly I've recently read another book featuring a bisexual single father and now I'm not sure which is which. Still rather bitter about his divorce, when he discovers his little sister is pregnant and getting married to a (billionaire) guy she only met recently Mark over-indulges in a single malt and accidentally spills out all his concerns about the wedding, the groom and the 'super hot wingman' to the wedding group chat instead of his sister - awks! Mark loves a spreadsheet, organised could be his middle-name, so when his little sister suggest that his penance could be to use his mandatory annual leave to supervise all the minutiae of her wedding he's more than happy ... until he discovers that the super hot wingman is also involved.

Asher is a former French football player (soccer)/model turned photographer. When his best friend asks him to be his best man and make sure everything is perfect for the upcoming wedding in Florida Asher is all-in - the trouble is he has a reputation for missing appointments, forgetting the time and generally coasting - although being dumped by his last boyfriend for that sort of behaviour has been a bit of a wake-up call.

Imagine a m/m Lauren Layne in the sexy New Yorkers phase, witty banter, unbearably good looking people and this is it.

Loved it.

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Review: The Winds of Change

The Winds of Change by Lillian Marek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

We've moved on a generation, Lady Alice Talmadge, her husband Stephen Bancroft, and her daughter Lady Clara Grammont, who is now twenty-two, travel to her former home at the invitation of the current Lord Talmadge. When they arrive they discover that the other guests may be, for the most part, from the Ton, but they are gamblers, excessive drinkers, wastrels and keep shocking company. The only exception is plain Mr John Smith, for whom (if they did but know it) the entire house party was arranged.

Mr Smith is extremely wealthy and is trying to get support to build a railway line which will revolutionise industry and travel. Unfortunately several aristocrats are opposing the railway and he desperately needs some support in the House of Lords. He hopes that Lady Alice and her husband might pave the way for an introduction to her brother, Lord Peter Ashleigh.

Clara and John are immediately drawn to each other, although they are not without their own misconceptions about how the other feels. However, there are numerous obstacles to overcome, not just their class differences, but also Peter's opposition and machinations from those who don't want the railway built.

As with the previous two books, the villains in this book are without a single redeeming feature, and this book just felt very familiar, maybe its just a common trope in historical romances.

On the plus side, the historical detail is good.

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Review: Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure: A Novel

Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure: A Novel by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Its 1938 and Ellie Endicott is shocked when her pernickety husband Lionel asks for a divorce to marry his pregnant (much) younger girlfriend who is expecting a baby. Refusing to roll over and obey his every command the way she has throughout their marriage, Ellie forces him into a decent financial settlement and decides its time to live a little. Lionel never wanted to go abroad, too many foreigners, so Ellie decides to go to the South of France. Much to her surprise, she has company, the caustic spinster who makes everyone's life a misery with her strictures about ironing the church altar cloth who has been given only months to live by her doctor, and Ellie's cleaner Mavis whose husband is a little too free with his fists after a few beers. In a fit of bravado, Ellie decides to take Lionel's beloved Bentley.

En route the ladies pick up Yvette, a young Frenchwoman who was thrown out by her father when he discovered she was pregnant. Initially the travelling companions are a motley crew, but gradually the ice thaws, until the Bentley breaks down in a small fishing village outside Marseilles called Saint Benet. After a few days in Saint Benet the ladies decide to make it home, especially when Ellie finds an abandoned villa on the cliff top which rumour says was given to a famous opera singer by her aristocratic lover.

But their idyllic life is soon to be overtaken by events on the world stage.

I've seen books by Rhys Bowen many times but this is my first read. I did enjoy it, but I felt it glossed over the war years in soft focus, everything was a bit like skimming stones on a pond, not much detail and the cursed insta-love. I enjoyed, and I think it would make a wonderful Sunday evening mini-series, but it could easily have been set without WW2.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: A Debt of Dishonor

A Debt of Dishonor by Lillian Marek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At first, when her mother died, Kate Russell was pleased that her older brother came to Yorkshire to bring her back to London with him, little did she know that he was as dissolute as their father and had effectively sold her to the Earl of Farnsworth to wipe out his debts. Luckily Kate gets wind of the plot and runs away, knowing the two men will chase her, she avoids Yorkshire and instead throws herself on the mercy of her aunt Franny Darling in Sussex, who was ostracised from the family when she married a merchant.

Kate first meets Peter, Duke of Ashleigh, when he visits her aunt, he mistakes her for a servant and she mistakes him for a farmer. When told Kate is Franny's niece he miscalls her Miss Darling and Kate accepts it, as further disguise in case her brother comes looking for her.

Peter is a very caring brother and landlord, he cares for his tenants and actively seeks new business opportunities to employ those that live on his lands. However, he is also very aware of his status in society and tends to take an overly-paternalistic approach to women. When aunt Franny and Kate come to dinner (to dilute the effects of his irritating cousins who have descended upon them), Peter is angered when Kate gives his cousin a set down (even though she was right and he was wrong) and initially suspects she is pretending to a better education than she has.

This has a very Pride and Prejudice vibe, Peter quickly falls for Kate, and vice versa, but he feels marriage to her is out of the question, her family having been in trade etc. On her part, Kate knows Peter would never want to be associated with people as disreputable as her late father and brother, men who haunted brothels and gaming hells.

There is also a sweet side story between Peter's sister, the widowed Lady Talmadge, and his steward (and remote cousin) Mr Bancroft.

If I have one criticism, it is that Lillian Merk writes her villains very villainous, there's no shade just out-and-out villains.

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Review: Featherbed

Featherbed by Annabeth Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harrison Phillip Fletcher, III has moved to Vermont to open an inclusive bookshop and wine bar with his mother. The epitome of wealthy New Yorker from his suits to his polished shoes, he's trying to make the bookshop a success for his mother because the men in his family don't live past forty-one, due to heart disease.

Finn Barnes is a chicken farmer, he's been burnt by city slickers in the past who can't cope with his 24/7 farming lifestyle and he's not looking to meet another one. In fact, he's resigned to never having a long-term relationship.

Then a box of rare chickens is delivered to the bookshop by accident and Finn and Harrison have a meet-cute.

This was a cute, small-town, opposites attract, younger guy romance.

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Review: The Earl Returns

The Earl Returns by Lillian Marek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Lord (Tom) Merton was pressganged and spent three years as a virtual prisoner on a ship, until finally they landed in England and he and a friend managed to escape. Tom told his captors that he was a member of the aristocracy, but they didn't believe him, they had been told that he was illegitimate and a pretender. He returns to his country home to find his cousin Edgar has married Pamela, a grasping social climber who tried to create a compromising position to force Tom to marry her her, Edgar, his mother Arabella, Pamela's father Mr Browne, and Tom's grandmother Lady Merton are all staying at Tom's country estate in Sussex when he returns - and several of them are not best pleased to see he is not, in fact, dead. Once settled, Tom and his friend Hodgson set up a shipyard to bring employment to the area.

Miranda Rokeby is the daughter of a wealthy American trader and a former Viscountess, she and her parents have returned to England from Boston and she has accompanied her cousin Lydia to Tom's home in Sussex where his grandmother is parading a number of suitable young women in front of Tom at a house party, in the hopes that he will offer for one of them, marry and produce an heir.

When Tom and Miranda meet they are immediately drawn to one another, she likes his broad shoulders and smile, he likes her direct gaze and laughter, but her parents are disparaging of the aristocracy and his family would never countenance marriage to an American (think colonies) nobody.

Soon it becomes clear that Tom being pressganged was no accident when he suffers a series of further potentially fatal 'accidents' - clearly someone wants him dead and Edgar the new Earl, but which of the poisonous vipers could it be?

I did enjoy this, however reading this shortly after reading Home is the Sailor, I found there were just too many similarities, hence only three and a half stars.

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Review: Aftermath

Aftermath by L.A. Witt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brent is a twenty-something former ice hockey player whose career was ended after a crash involving a drunk driver. Now, unable to walk without a limp and in almost permanent pain from multiple surgeries and a lifetime of hockey injuries, he's returned to his home town in Vermont and bought a mansion overlooking Lake Champlain where he sits and broods. One day his friend drags him into the local town to a wine bar/LGBTQIA+ book store called Vino & Veritas for a drink.

Jon is a bi-sexual divorced massage therapist, father to ten year old Cody who he shares custody of with his ex-wife. Twice a week Jon sings and plays guitar at Vino & Veritas, mainly sad sings he wrote about the collapse of his marriage.

When Brent catches Jon's eye (and vice versa) its insta-lust, but nothing is ever going to be easy for two such damages souls. Jon doesn't understand why his wife wanted a divorce after twenty years and Brent feels his physical scars and disabilities make him unlovable, they start of as friends with benefits but it quickly escalates.

I really enjoyed this, especially the way in which Brent's physical limitations remain constant, there's no quick miraculous fix, just good days and bad days, days of extreme pain, days of debilitating pain. Jon worries that he is so much older than Brent and he has a receding hairline. Sorry if that makes it sound depressing and boring - it really isn't (lots of smexy times in the hot tub), its just quite 'real'.

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Review: Roommate

Roommate by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aw! Roddy has left Nashville with practically just the shirt off his back after his in the closet famous country star boyfriend deliberately cheated on him in some kind of twisted power play. He returns home to Vermont, hoping his religious parents might have had a change of heart since they kicked him out when he was eighteen - but nope. Now he's sleeping in his car, washing at the gym during a free one-week trial, and desperately seeking any paying job.

Kieran is living a lie. The atmosphere at home is toxic, he works mornings at a local coffee shop and afternoons at a print shop designing copy before returning to the farm at night to help his older brother Kyle and his father. But he has a plan, he's saving every penny he earns to put towards renting his own place in town and he plans to audit some art classes in his spare time. Years ago he watched as Roddy and one of the High School seniors got it on under the bleachers, thinking no-one knew, until Roddy looked right at him one time!

Kieran can't believe it when Roddy comes into the café where he works and asks for work, although he doesn't want to be reminded of his voyeurism he can't stop his cousin hiring Roddy, especially when he realises that Roddy is sleeping in his car, so when Kieran gets his three bedroom apartment it only makes sense for him to offer to share with Roddy.

This is a sweet, yet sexy, close proximity romance. Loved it.

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Review: First Love, Second Draft

First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 39%.

Gracie Parker is a writer, but she hasn't had a successful book since she got divorced five years ago. Gracie's ex, Noah, is a professional baseball player, he's had a terrible season and realises that he let true love go for a sport/profession that may be over. After an embarrassing accident which may or not have gone viral on social media Gracie is left with badly bruised ribs, her older sister just goes off on a work conference leaving Gracie unable to wash or dress herself (or indeed go up and down stairs).

Meanwhile, Noah has rented the empty property next to Gracie's house, determined to find a way to show her how much he loves her. When he discovers she needs help with basic things he offers to help, despite her objections.

There's also a plot involving Gracie's nephew Matt and his ex-BFF from school that he may have had a crush on all those years ago.

Once again, the story isn't going anywhere, none of the characters behave like normal people (I mean would you really bring your sister home from the hospital and then just leave her alone to her own devices when she can barely get out of the car? Why wouldn't a big-time baseball player pay for a nurse to help his ex-wife with washing and dressing instead of carrying her fully dressed and dropping her in the bath?

Today I am giving books a second chance but if they exasperate me then I am not hesitating to DNF them - this one bites the dust.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Biggest Player

Biggest Player by Sara Ney
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 44%.

Margot is a teacher and a single mother of a ten year old daughter.

Dex is a smoking hot quarterback, his friends are all coupled-up and he wants the same, but no kids just yet, just wall-to-wall smexy times.

Dex and Margot meet on a dating app, she thinks he's catfishing people because he is telling the truth about who he is. Then when he changes his dating profile (so as to avoid gold-diggers) they swipe right on each other. Despite the mutual attraction they agree to just be friends because she has a child and he just wants to have fun.

Unfortunately, I found that Dex read like a seventeen year old, his idea of 'moves' is to stretch and put his arm around Margot at the cinema, his idea of a date is to meet at Glam Golf - FFS what about dinner?

As with a lot of NA/YA authors I found that there was a whole lot of nothing happening as an excuse for heavy petting (eg plumbing issues leading to them both getting soaked - pfft), no life outside each other. So I gave up. I'm having one of those days.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Match Me If You Can

Match Me If You Can by Swati Hegde
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 33%.

Jia Deshpande is a journalist, albeit she seems to be writing click-bait rather than real articles, for Mimosa, Mumbai’s top women’s magazine. In her spare time she writes an anonymous blog about love and dreams of writing a matchmaker column. Her boss says she can have a shot at the column IF she can match a new colleague, Charu, who has recently arrived from the countryside and has said she is looking for marriage.

Jaiman Patil is a struggling local pub-owner, he's been in love with Jia since he was twelve years old, but aside from one perfect kiss at Jia's sister's wedding (a kiss that Jia told him never to speak of again), he has never shared his feelings. Which is a pity because Jia has feelings for him. Also, the reason Jia said to never speak of that kiss again is because of a misunderstanding, but as a reader the misunderstanding is 100% in Jia's head - more of an excuse to reject him than a genuine reason.

Manoj is a comedian who has a weekly slot at Jaiman's pub, he and Charu hit it off immediately but Jia thinks he isn't good enough because he's younger and still deciding what he wants to be in life. Jia wants to set Charu up with another colleague, Eshaan, despite one of her friends saying what a terrible boss he is - so again ignoring clear signs and pursuing her own agenda.

There's also a blooming sub-plot involving Jaiman's rival from culinary college who has just bought the shop next door to Jaiman's pub, I suspect that he and Jaiman's other friend form culinary college are in love with each other but nothing has happened so far.

I feel a bit hypocritical not finishing this book because it does what it says on the tin, its a modern-day Mumbai-set re-imagining of Jane Austen's Emma. The trouble is, it isn't bringing anything new to the party, worse its more like the film Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone. So, it just feels like a few minor details changed and relocated to India, no more. Such a pity.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Bookshop Murder

The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Flora Steele was adopted by her aunt after the early deaths of her parents. With plans to travel, her intentions were thwarted when her aunt became ill and died a few years later. Now Flora is stuck in Abbeymead, a small Sussex town, running a book shop which barely breaks even.

One morning Flora opens the shop to discover the dead body of a young man in among the second-hand bookshelves. The man turns out to be an Australian staying at the Priory Hotel, a former stately home. Being a small town, rumour is rife and soon Flora sees a catastrophic dip in sales as the locals mutter about ghosts and curses. Nevertheless, the police view the man's death as simply a tragic heart attack and are unwilling to investigate further.

Determined to save her livelihood, Flora enlists the help of local reclusive writer Jack Carrington, who frequently orders research books from the shop, to prove that his death was no accident. The victim was apparently the grandson of the former owner of the Priory when it was a private residence and rumour suggests he was interrogating the staff looking for some sort of treasure.

While Flora is impulsive and liable to jump to conclusions, based on little or no evidence, Jack, as a former journalist, takes a more measured approach.

This was pleasant enough, perhaps I had too high expectations of this (for some reason I thought the author was a Golden Age writer, not a contemporary writer). Flora careers around suspecting everyone in the village, the villain takes the trouble to make a full confession and gloat over his evil to Flora, there's a handy boy who gives Jack the crucial information, and everything relies on a whole lot of strange coincidences.

Overall, I will definitely read the next book - I note the average rating increase over the series - but I'm not sure I would have paid for this one.

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Review: A Place in the Sun: The brand new heart-warming beach read women’s fiction novel from the bestselling author

A Place in the Sun: The brand new heart-warming beach read women’s fiction novel from the bestselling author by Jo Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Thea's husband Marco died suddenly of a heart attack in their Cardiff restaurant. Although she tried to keep the business going after his death, Theas isn't a chef and the combination of Covid, rising costs, and mounting debts forced her to sell the restaurant and give up the family home. Now all that she and her two children have left is the cottage in Tuscany Marco bought on a whim for a song. Thea's plan is to spend the Summer in Tuscany, do up the cottage and sell it to hopefully make enough money to buy somewhere in Cardiff. After the restaurant took over their lives, and probably cost Marco his, Thea wants nothing more to do with the hospitality trade, she certainly doesn't want to work in a restaurant ever again.

When they finally arrive in the small village Thea is disheartened to see that it is practically a ghost-town filled with old people, including three argumentative Nonnas, no cafes, no restaurants and only one small shop. Then the mayor arrives and informs her that the cottage must be made habitable and either sold or occupied by Thea by the end of August, otherwise there is a balloon payment due - its a scheme to bring in investment in the village, empty houses are sold for a song but the buyer must improve them or they have to pay the full market price.

At the centre of the village is La Tavola, a community kitchen which utilises leftover perishables from the local shop to make hearty meals for the elderly residents of the village once a week which are hand delivered by volunteers and then on a Sunday there is a communal meal where all are welcome.

Against her better judgement, Thea makes a deal with Giovanni, local odd-job man and the brains behind La Tavola, he will do up her cottage if she takes over running La Tavola for him. Thea's children are thriving in Italy, finally shrugging off the grief which has overshadowed their lives, making friends with local children and gaining some independence, then a young woman arrives at the cottage looking for Marco, saying she's a 'friend' - what does this mean?

When Giovanni lets slip that La Tavola may need to close because he can't afford the rent any longer, the village pulls together and hatches an audacious plan, but it brings a surprise to the village which leads Thea to reconsider all her choices.

This was a gentle small-town, fell-good romance, what I didn't feel the need for (and it felt a bit wedged in at the last minute) was the 'surprise' and her reaction to it - I felt that could have been finessed far better, goodness knows we had enough repetition of why the restaurant in Cardiff failed, we could have handled a bit more reasoning behind what seemed like a weird decision. Being deliberately vague.

Anyway, as long as you don't mind multiple references to lasagne and red wine (I have to admit even I was feeling a bit queasy by the end) this had all the Jo Thomas hallmarks.

Perfect holiday reading.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Home is the Sailor

Home is the Sailor by Lillian Marek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Captain Will Dormer was invalided out of the Navy after the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 after the loss of one eye and one leg. Whilst recuperating in hospital he is advised that his father and two elder brothers have died in a drunken carriage ride when their carriage went over a cliff near the family estate. Will was sent to the Navy after his mother's death when he was only ten so he feels no great sorrow for the death of his family. What he finds inconvenient is inheriting the title of Viscount Claremont and the estate of Belmond Park, his brother's widow, her mother, and his cousin Frederick who bullied him mercilessly as a child.

Will is wallowing in self-pity, no job, responsibilities that he did not want, worried that everyone finds him grotesque etc. Then he receives a letter from Captain Robert Garland, his first commanding officer and father-figure asking him to visit. When he arrives, Will discovers his mentor is dying, leaving a sister and daughter. Captain Garland has lost practically all his money after investing in two cargo ships which both sank, and asks Will to look after Maria and his widowed sister, Lady Sophia Pellew. Initially Will intends to provide the ladies with money, but as he spends time with the Captain, he realises that Maria has skills in house management and dealing with people that he lacks and he decides to offer her a marriage of convenience, he needs a wife and heir and she doesn't seem to find his scars abhorrent, and she needs security.

Living in Portsmouth and having a sailor for a father, Maria is used to seeing men with injuries, she doesn't find them ugly, she still finds Will devastatingly attractive, but she worries that as a woman of (very) humble birth she will not fit in with Will's friends and family.

When they return to Belmond Park as husband and wife they find a house that has been neglected, family residents who resent and dislike them, surly servants, and wary tenants. Together they tackle the issues, but it seems someone is taking dislike to the next level.

I read a review of this book on Dear Author several months ago (eek July 2024) and kept it in my inbox (hey, I'm old I get email notifications of reviews) because I loved the sound of an intelligent historical firmly entrenched in accurate historical detail with a slow burn romance and a solid plot. I finally got around to treating myself and I was not disappointed.

Highly recommended and I will look out for other books by this author.

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Review: Cover Story

Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Argh! Read it, liked it, forgot to write a review.

Bel is a journalist and podcaster. She moved to Manchester from Leeds after a relationship with a colleague went wrong and he refused to accept they had broken up.

Connor was a big cheese in the City, but it gave him crippling anxiety so he walked away from a very lucrative job and at the ripe old age of thirty he's retraining as a journalist and his internship is at the paper's Manchester office.

Bel and her colleague have run the gamut of bolshie, Gen Z interns and are frankly a bit jaded so they may not have been the most welcoming to Connor. ON his side, he mistook Bel's hungover clothing and attitude as superiority which automatically puts up his hackles.

Then Bel gets an anonymous call alleging that a local beloved politician is not the reformed man he appears to be, and instead is a predator who targets young women. This could be the scoop of her career - if she can get the evidence, but without a slam-dunk the only known victim won't go on the record. The scoop is potentially so explosive that head office swear Bel to utter secrecy.

Bel comes up with a bit of a Scooby-Doo plan to get the Ring doorbell footage of the politician and his victim entering a local Airbnb by getting close to the owner, a Manc party-girl who owns a swanky wine bar. While undercover Bel has the misfortune to run into Connor and desperately claims he is her boyfriend, now he's been drawn into the investigation!

As the blurb says so well, two rivals, one fake romance, the headlines write themselves.

I liked this, both Bel and Connor realised they were in the wrong (a bit of Pride and Prejudice) and they worked well together. I loved Connor's brother.

Just a great rom-com.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: When Shadows Fall

When Shadows Fall by Neil Lancaster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DS Max Craigie is contacted by a former colleague in the Navy (can one say colleague?) who now works on Mountain Rescue, a middle-aged blonde woman has fallen to her death whilst walking the Munroes, sadly deaths are not uncommon, but Max's friend is worried that the number of women dying has increased dramatically and is at odds with the normal statistics - ie women are traditionally better prepared and more cautious than male climbers.

Although not their usual purview, when the team start investigating there have been five other women in the last year who have had similar 'accidents' and they all look eerily similar, middle-aged recently divorced/separated, and blonde. More worrying, none of the deaths appears to have received more than a cursory investigation.

As the team dig deep they put Janie undercover, but could her life be at risk?

I love this series, I like the way they have branched out of pure police corruption (although TBH there would be no-one left in Police Scotland if they didn't) and I like the addition of the new team member.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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