Review: Celebrity SOS: Love Survives

Celebrity SOS: Love Survives by Helen Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Katerina Murphy is a very successful actress on British TV and has agreed to take part in Celebrity SOS, where a group of celebrities are left in a cabin in Alaska to fend for themselves (think I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here but with snow). She's really looking forward to challenging herself and learning new skills, until she comes face-to-face with her childhood sweetheart Finn Drayson, former member of boyband 1Dream. He broke her heart when they were teenagers but he's just as handsome as ever.

Finn only agreed to do Celebrity SOS because he had invested unwisely and is being pursued by the taxman for a lot of money. SInce 1Dream split up he hasn't managed to get his solo career off the ground and he hopes that the show might give him some exposure. When he sees Katerina he is delighted, she may have broken his heart all those years ago but she is as charming as ever.

But as we the readers find out gradually what happened all those years ago the secrets are revealed in the most shocking way on live TV - and Finn and Katerina's burgeoning rekindling of their romance is shattered.

I really liked this, I liked Finn and Katerina, I liked that the big reveal doesn't come right at the end of the book, instead there is a fair amount of dealing with the aftermath.

Overall, I thought this was fun and sweet and a great read.

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Review: Strictly Christmas Spirit

Strictly Christmas Spirit by Helen Buckley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Emily Williams had one season as a professional dancer on Strictly Dancing with Celebs. Now her life is very different, she is the manager of a drop in centre in central London dealing with the drunks, the homeless, the elderly and the lonely every day. The last thing she needs is thrice divorced, fresh out of rehab, Hollywood actor Blake Harris swanning around taking selfies and getting in her way as his community service for crashing his car.

Blake needs an image rehab, stat. After his latest divorce and car crash, as well as some frankly appalling interviews on TV, the job offers have dried up. He'll turn up for his allotted community service, dole out some food to the homeless and be on his merry way as quickly as possible, charming everyone in his radius. But turning up late on the first day doesn't go down too well with the centre's grumpy manager Emily, she seems to be the only one immune to his charm.

I liked this, but I didn't love it. For some reason it reminded me of the film Last Christmas (maybe it's just the homeless shelter). As I came to write this review I couldn't remember what plot lines belonged to this novel and which ones belonged to the previous novel in the series. Also, the link to Strictly is a bit tenuous in comparison to the previous books which were much more about the reality TV programmes.

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Review: Call Me Maybe: Could it be love at first talk?

Call Me Maybe: Could it be love at first talk? by Cara Bastone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vera has a small business which chooses bespoke gifts and days out for people based on a website questionnaire. Unfortunately, her website is a big fat mess - which is a problem because she is going to need it for an exhibition she is attending on Friday. Having spent hours on hold with Curio, the website hosting company, (a company her brother recommended) she is delighted to speak to Cal from customer support and, as you would, she refuses to hang up and let him call her back (haven't we all sat around waiting for that non-existent call-back from customer support?).

As Cal tries to work out why Vera's website isn't working properly (I'll give you a hint, she hasn't updated her operating system EVER) they chat about this and that and over the course of many hours they develop a bond.

Unbeknown to Vera, Cal is actually the owner of Curio, he randomly takes customer service calls one day a week to better understand issues with the software directly from the users. Cal usually finds it difficult to talk to women, but because of the nature of their interactions he finds it easy to talk to Vera and her offbeat sense of humour suits him.

After 10 hours on the call on Monday Cal has fixed Vera's website, but the questionnaire still isn't working properly, he promises Vera he will have it fixed by Friday morning, in time for her expo. This is a big deal for Vera because her whole family think of her as a quitter, she's half-completed two degrees and taken up (and dropped) playing several musical instruments. If her website isn't fully functional her parents will chalk it up as yet another failure.

Over the course of four days Vera and Cal call, DM and send text messages, they even order each other takeaway food, and fall in love, despite never having met - but will Vera forgive Cal when she learns the truth?

I had already read the second book in this series, which features Vera's brother, so I knew what happened between Vera and Cal, but I enjoyed the journey anyway. A sweet romance.

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Review: A Husband's Regret

A Husband's Regret by Natasha Anders
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Two years ago Bronwyn's billionaire husband threw her out of their mansion when she told him she was pregnant. Since then she's lived off her savings, a small legacy, and a series of low-paid jobs. She's recovering from a bout of flu when her brother-in-law walks into the restaurant where she is working and starts haranguing her for leaving his brother and ruining his life. Next thing she knows, Bronwyn is lying in a hospital bed recovering from pneumonia and her husband is shouting at her. Apparently after she left their home he chased after her, crashed his car and lost his hearing as a result. Now he has found her again he is using his power and money to insist that she and their child return to live with him as Bronwyn has 'stolen' his child from him.

Still desperately in love with her husband, despite his frankly deranged accusations, Bronwyn is too weak to resist, especially when he sometimes treats her so kindly and his kisses are as sweet as ever. Can these two resolve their differences and reconcile?

I know this book is seven years old and written at a time when romance readers relished cold-hearted billionaires who are secretly madly in love with their wives but conflicted because of 'stuff' where they have hate sex, but actually Bronwyn's husband Bryce came across as a petulant child, stamping his foot because of what he thinks his wife did. In contrast, Bronwyn was completely wet and pathetic.

Not one of her better ones.

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Review: Love in Numbers

Love in Numbers by Scarlett Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Meh.

Emerson Dyer and her siblings have inherited their father's gin distillery after his heart attack. Money is tight and they want to expand to capitalise on the success of their latest gin. Connor Finch is Finance Director of his father's multi-million dollar liquor business. He's been trying to persuade his father to acquire some premium brands, like high-end gin distilleries but his father won't countenance Dyer's Gins as he counts Emerson's father as his worst enemy.

Emerson and Connor meet by chance on a flight where they have both, unaccountably, have been allocated the same seat. They feel an instant attraction so Connor is bewildered when he finds out she is the daughter of his father's nemesis. Initially Connor thinks he can get close to Emerson to get the inside dirt about her company but soon he is falling for her. But can this Romeo and Juliet overcome their enmity?

I have loved some of Scarlett Cole's previous books but I have to say this and the last book I read indicate that our love affair is over. I hate to be unkind but honestly this felt predictable, lazy and cliched, complete with the moustache-twirling (figuratively) evil uncle.

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Review: Christmas at Lilac Cottage

Christmas at Lilac Cottage by Holly Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Penny Meadows might be single, after a disastrous ending to her first relationship many years ago, but she loves her cottage, her smelly dog, her friends in the village and her job as an ice-carver. But she is a bit lonely, so she is delighted to be renting out the annex to her cottage. She and her new tenant Henry have an instant attraction, but he is wary of falling for anyone without his daughter's approval after one too many mistakes. Also he's moved for a new job at the local high-end furniture manufacturers and doesn't want to jeopardise that by falling out with his landlady.

This is super cute and very sweet, I have a loathing of heroines who have only ever had one boyfriend/lover but this just about squeaked through. It's set at Christmas, there's a village party, an ice-carving competition and plenty of women just queueing up to take Henry out for a spin.

If you want a gentle, feel-good, holiday romance then this is the one for you.

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Review: Scot Mist

Scot Mist by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Catriona McPherson's Dandy Gilver series set in the 1920s in Scotland but I have avoided these because the covers have tartan edges and I have learned to avoid romances where the cover features kilts and/or tartan. Big mistake, huge!

The permanent residents of the last Ditch Motel are a motley crew: the motel is run by a lesbian couple, one of whom is a germaphobe; there are a couple of gay doctors, one of whom is terrified of creepy-crawlies and is therefore on extended medical leave; and there's a single mother and her new (much younger) husband and son.

As California is on the verge of shutting down due to Covid-19 Lexy comes up with Operation Cocker to fill the vacant rooms at the motel with the vulnerable and families of first responders so that they can't be forced to take in strangers, and then lock down as Kathi's germaphobia is reaching dangerous levels. Two of the newcomers are escaping abusive partners and when vague but threatening messages are left draped over the fence the gang aren't sure which spouse is responsible. Reporting the messages to the local police, in the form of Detective Molly, leads nowhere, until another incomer, a doctor's wife, goes missing, leaving behind her two small children, and the place is bathed in blood.

Can Lexy and the gang uncover who killed her?

This is the fourth book in a series set in the Last Ditch Motel, featuring Dundee-born therapist Lexy Campbell. The blurb suggests it would suit fans of Janet Evanovich and I can see the similarities with Janet's early books, before they became repetitive. I loved it but I can see other people might find the humour a bit grating. Basically, there is a lot of humour gained from the fact that Lexy is from Scotland and so she shares a language but not a vocabulary with the other guests.

Anyway, I found it high-octane, funny and great fun. Having read this I have already purchased the first two books in the series, read the first and I halfway through the second.

Very different to Dandy, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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


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Review: The Arctic Curry Club

The Arctic Curry Club by Dani Redd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars because I wanted it to go on for longer.

Maya is a short, (very) plump, half-Indian, half-English woman. Brought up in India until she was seven years old, she and her father moved to England after her mother's death. Maya has no memories of her time in India and suffers from crippling anxiety, even in quite innocent situations, which has forced her to give up her career as a chef and take much less rewarding work (can you tell I can't remember what). Her boyfriend Ryan studies polar bears and so she has agreed to move to the far north of Norway, inside the arctic circle, for a year when he gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study them up close and personal.

Maya and Ryan soon realise that life in the arctic circle is not quite what they expected, Ryan is in his sporty element, husky sledding, long-distance skiing etc, whereas Maya has no friends, no job, is scared of getting lost in the snow, and can't stand the 24-hour night.

One of the guys who runs an arctic excursion business for tourists hears that Maya was a chef and offers her a part-time job cooking for the small groups of tourists. One of the tour guides asks Maya to cook some Indian food and she is too embarrassed to admit that she doesn't know how to cook Indian food, which leads her to explore her cultural heritage with a trip to Bangalore and the help of her father's Indian fiance and her mother's old cookery book. But as Maya cooks her mother's recipes she finds that they spark memories she thought long buried and lead her to uncover some family secrets. Maya uses her mother's recipes to start up a supper club, inviting a small number of paying guests to eat a home-cooked Indian meal.

I loved this, in fact I read all the way through the night to finish the novel. While some parts of the story were (to me) predictable, there were also lots of things that weren't. In the author's notes at the back Dani Redd notes that she has spent time in both India and the arctic circle and I think the authenticity shows through. I really wanted to cook some of the delicious recipes Maya serves to her guests, I especially loved the way she adapted certain recipes to use ingredients available in Norway, even if some weren't always successful.

Highly recommended.

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

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Review: Risen

Risen by Benedict Jacka
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Alex Verus has led us a long dance over the last twelve books, from a low level magician hiding in plain sight selling cheap magic tat in a shop in Camden to the linchpin between the light and dark mages.

Now, in the series finale can Alex foil the Djinn which possesses the body of his girlfriend Anne and save the girl? It's going to take an unprecedented alliance between the Council, the Dark mage Richard Drakh, and Alex and his small but trusty gang. But when no-one trusts anyone else how will that work?

I can't tell you any more about the plot - suffice it to say that the action starts immediately and never seems to stop for the entire book. Alex, as ever, uses his brains to persuade, coax, blackmail, threaten and force everyone to follow his plans.

For me this was a fantastic end to what has been an engrossing series. All the loose ends got tied up to my satisfaction and the end was totally satisfying.

Obviously not for anyone who hasn't read the previous eleven books, but if you don't like to start a series without knowing that it ends satisfactorily (and we can all thank the TV series Lost for that particular paranoia) then rest assured, your time will not be wasted.

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

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Review: The Key In The Lock

The Key In The Lock by Beth Underdown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gah, wrote a review and my iPad lost it.

In 1888 Ivy is a young woman in a small town in Cornwall. In 1919 as a mother she reflects on the tragic events of Christmas 1888 and how they have shaped her life.

The reader only gradually discovers what Ivy did, sadly none of the plot ‘twists’ were particularly original and were signalled so well in advance that I was almost perpetually unsurprised.

I found Ivy an unsympathetic character and that may have coloured my view of the book.

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

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Review: Anything Could Happen

Anything Could Happen by Lucy Diamond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Back then, Lara was a fresh-faced young fashion journalist spending a few months working in New York and trying to live her best life. One night her colleague drags her to a bar for a drink and she meets Ben, a graphic designer on holiday with some mates. Their connection is instant and all consuming, both of them thinking 'This is the One', they arrange to meet that night - but fail to connect.

Fast forward nineteen years and Eliza is an angry young woman confronting her father about why he left her and her mother when she was only small. Her father drops a huge bombshell that shakes Eliza to the core - he is not her father. Lara has been lying to her for her entire life. When Eliza does eventually connect with her real father, Ben, it also causes repercussions in his marriage.

Can Ben and Lara uncover what actually happened in New York, can Eliza forgive Lara, can Ben and Eliza develop a relationship and make up for lost time?

I love Lucy Diamond novels, never twee, always about people's feelings, about messy families who drive you up the wall but you still love them, and this is no exception.

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