Review: In Love with Lewis Prescott

In Love with Lewis Prescott by Sarah Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Harper Ellorza is a high-flying architect in San Francisco. She has decided to completely renovate her grandparents' home in Half Moon Bay and achieve all the things with it that they wanted but couldn't afford. She has resigned her job and plans to spend a year overseeing the renovations, but after her plans were slightly delayed by a family illness she arrives to find that the contractor has completely messed up her careful plans (painted the walls the wrong colour, laid the floor the wrong direction, fitted the kitchen doors badly, etc). Now, I let this go for artistic licence, but who pays their contractor for work without seeing what it looks like? Also, apparently this means that she will lose all her savings and won't be able to afford the reno, despite the fact that she is letting family stay rent-free in her apartment in Nob Hill, and that she is taking a year off work unpaid. It seems to me that she was the architect of her own problems, but hey artistic licence.

Feeling deeply unhappy about the contractor fiasco, Harper accidentally runs into a man outside a coffee shop who turns out to be TV hunk Lewis Prescott who has recently been fired from his show, dumped by his model girlfriend, and shouted obscenities at the paparazzi. Lewis is hiding out in a local grotty motel for a few months until the fuss dies down. When Harper tells him her woes he offers to renovate the house for free, if he can stay at the house while he's working.

Anyway, as they work side by side renovating the house they feel the attraction but at first try to resist because - awks - but eventually they can resist no longer. But what chance is there of this romance surviving the reno?

This had so much potential, but it got bogged down in not very much plot, trying on wedding dresses etc, and it seemed as though there was a nothing plot scene, followed by a sex scene, followed by a nothing plot scene over and over again. So, at this point I was thinking three stars, maybe three and a half depending on the ending. Then the author basically stole the ending of Notting Hill as the big finale, just set in San Francisco - I know that film practically off-by-heart, as I suspect do many other people and it was such an obvious lift that I knocked another star off.

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

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Review: The Stranger Times:

The Stranger Times: by C.K. McDonnell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hannah once had a superficial but very wealthy life in London. Then she found out her husband had cheated on her multiple times. She may have got a leetle angry and accidentally set the house on fire. It was an accident, she swears. Now she refuses to take any money from him and is trying to stand on her own two feet, but having dropped out of university to be a trophy wife there aren't many job openings. So she finds herself 'interviewing' for a job at a backstreet Manchester newspaper called The Stranger Times which, for the Brits amongst us, takes over where The News of the World and other sensationalist newspapers left off. Headlines usually feature Elvis, aliens, and/or ghosts. Her co-workers are an eclectic group of misfits, conspiracy theorists, broken hacks, and truculent teenagers who subsist on copious quantities of tea and biscuits. The editor is a alcoholic who likes to fire people multiple times a day.

When an aspiring reporter is found dead at the bottom of a tall building under construction the police are quick to classify it a suicide, but nothing seems to add up - could it be that one of the fantastical stories they print week-in, week-out might be true?

This has Rivers of London vibes, but less serious, maybe more like the Brentford Trilogy. It's funny and an interesting read. On to the next in the series.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Doc Showmance

Doc Showmance by Zoe Forward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What happens when your college nemesis gets a job at your place of work and a reality TV producer thinks it would be a good idea to manufacture a romance between you?

Amber is an emergency vet, specialising in surgery. She is just one year from residency and is one of the stars of a reality TV programme about the practice. Ian presents a wildlife TV show which seems to necessitate him stripping off his shirt at regular intervals, but when a snafu with the producer's wife gets the show dropped he is blackmailed into coming on board Amber's veterinary show.

Amber and Ian were at veterinary college together, competing at every turn, until Ian humiliated Amber on Valentine's Day and his friends posted the evidence online. She's do absolutely anything to avoid Ian, but her foster-brother owes a loan shark $30,000 and she desperately needs the money.

But while Amber and Ian think they are enemies, the viewing public (and the canny editing of the footage) sees something completely different. But can this be an opposites attract, enemies to lovers, romance?

Zoe Forward is new to me, I liked Amber's feisty spirit and potty mouth. Also I liked that the veterinary scenes weren't all smooching cuddy cats. Ian's douche-y family were deliciously OTT villains and Amber's foster-siblings were each great characters. I liked the way Amber and Ian subverted the producer's plans. However, I did feel that the novel started to tread water about halfway in and could have done with more everyday reality TV activities (rather than the Pretty Woman-esque trip to San Francisco to see Ian's parents at Thanksgiving).

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

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Review: Deadly Christmas

Deadly Christmas by Rachel McLean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's Christmas time in Birmingham and the team are hoping to get away for Christmas. Rhodri is going home to Wales, Connie's brother is home from uni, and so is Zoe's son.

On Sunday morning one of the street cleaners at the German Market in the city centre finds the body of a homeless man behind one of the cabins. At first the death just seems to be a tragedy, due to the cold, but the post-mortem indicates that the man has been poisoned ... with Thallium. Can DI Zoe Finch crack the case before Christmas?

This is a rather pleasant halfway house between a full-on detective novel and a holiday novella. There's a nosy neighbour, a homeless shelter and Zoe has to make a big decision soon. (BTW, can I just say I would much prefer Zoe and Adi as a couple).

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Review: Deadly Christmas

Deadly Christmas by Rachel McLean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's Christmas time in Birmingham and the team are hoping to get away for Christmas. Rhodri is going home to Wales, Connie's brother is home from uni, and so is Zoe's son.

On Sunday morning one of the street cleaners at the German Market in the city centre finds the body of a homeless man behind one of the cabins. At first the death just seems to be a tragedy, due to the cold, but the post-mortem indicates that the man has been poisoned ... with Thallium. Can DI Zoe Finch crack the case before Christmas?

This is a rather pleasant halfway house between a full-on detective novel and a holiday novella. There's a nosy neighbour, a homeless shelter and Zoe has to make a big decision soon. (BTW, can I just say I would much prefer Zoe and Adi as a couple).

Read on my Kindle Unlimited.

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Review: Deadly Christmas

Deadly Christmas by Rachel McLean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's Christmas time in Birmingham and the team are hoping to get away for Christmas. Rhodri is going home to Wales, Connie's brother is home from uni, and so is Zoe's son.

On Sunday morning one of the street cleaners at the German Market in the city centre finds the body of a homeless man behind one of the cabins. At first the death just seems to be a tragedy, due to the cold, but the post-mortem indicates that the man has been poisoned ... with Thallium. Can DI Zoe Finch crack the case before Christmas?

This is a rather pleasant halfway house between a full-on detective novel and a holiday novella. There's a nosy neighbour, a homeless shelter and Zoe has to make a big decision soon. (BTW, can I just say I would much prefer Zoe and Adi as a couple).

Read on my Kindle Unlimited.

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Review: Deadly Reprisal

Deadly Reprisal by Rachel McLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

After the (literally) explosive events of the last book, this is a return to police procedural. When two college students enter another student's room, they are looking to catch them taking drugs or in bed with someone, they didn't expect to find him dead. At first it is thought to be a drug overdose, but the forensics suggest someone may have forced the victim to ingest the drugs. There are rumours that the victim was a recluse, a creep, and possibly a rapist. The college warden is being obstructive (in the nicest possible way), and DS Ian Osman's corruption trial is looming.

A good solid detective story, with some good misdirection to divert attention from the killer.

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Review: Deadly Terror

Deadly Terror by Rachel McLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Birmingham New Street station is rocked by a nail bomb, killing the female bomber and the police hostage negotiator sent in to speak to her. Shortly afterwards, a bomb explodes on a plane landing from Pakistan, killing most on board. Is Birmingham the latest area to be subject to terrorist attacks.

Meanwhile, lovely Sofia is at the airport to meet her sister from a plane arriving from Bulgaria. Her boyfriend's men who are escorting her ask her to help them collect seven young children from the plane, with the roads in chaos and the phone networks down her boyfriend Titi's men don't know where to take them so she suggests taking them to the large house they share, bringing herself into contact with what Titi really does for a living.

This is both a cracking good mystery about the bombings but also progresses the overarching story arc about police corruption A LOT. Absolutely gripping and I have already started on the next book.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

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Review: Deadly Desires

Deadly Desires by Rachel McLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DI Zoe Finch investigates when the bodies of two men are found mutilated in a bar in Birmingham's gay village. One died and one survives but has life-changing injuries and is unconscious. is this a homophobic attack? Who are these men? Why did the attacker mutilate the men like that?

This series is definitely starting to feel its feet, each book is a separate investigation but there is the overall police corruption and connection to organised crime arc which continues. The series walks the narrow line between cosy crime and what I term slasher serial killer crime with a diverse team of investigators, each with their own stories.

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Review: A Hard Day for a Hangover

A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

The finale to the Sunshine Vicram trilogy. I guess it is possible to read this as a stand-alone (I haven't read the first book), but I wouldn't recommend it.

Sunshine Vicram is the sheriff of her small hometown, a single mother of Auri, a precocious teen who insists on trying to investigate mysteries on her own. (view spoiler)[Sunshine has recently discovered that Auri was not as a result of her abduction and rape as a teenager, but instead the result of a night of passion with Levi Ravinder. She has also discovered that she was effectively press-ganged into taking the job as sheriff by a cabal of local people (including her own parents) who secretly run the town (although not very well given previous events LOL) and has been co-opted as the leader of said secret society. (hide spoiler)]

A call comes in that a young girl has been found half-way down a ravine by a hunter, badly beaten and barely clothed, Sunshine and her team have to mount a rescue, assisted by the mysterious Levi Ravinder, Sunshine's long-term crush. No-one can identify the girl, who is in a coma, but Auri recalls the school mean girl mentioning a cousin who was supposed to visit and never arrived - could this be the girl? Then Sunshine hears of two other girls who have either gone missing or been injured near the ravine - are they connected?

I haven't looked back at my review for the second book, but I suspect it says something very similar to this one. There is just too much going on, it's unnecessary and, in my opinion, not very funny. First off, the secret society - totally unnecessary. Second, the 'humorous' signs which start each chapter - funny once, thereafter irritating and bear no resemblance to the plot. Third, the rivalry between Levi and his no-good uncle and his other uncle being in prison for a crime he didn't commit - should have been resolved in the previous book and ended in a totally ludicrous OTT scene. Finally, would a precocious child, like Auri, really get words confused all the time?

I suspect that this sort of thing works a bit better in Darynda Jones' paranormal series Charley Davidson where characters are expected to be OTT and enigmatic - doesn't work so well for a small-town businessman. I see that Darynda says this series was intended to be Gilmore Girls meets Fargo, I think the issue with that is that the Gilmore Girls was all about the dialogue and the plot was quite gentle, trying to smash it into a decade-old abduction mystery, a romance, several disappearances, and a family feud is just manic.

In my opinion this would have benefitted from a few plot strands being ditched, maybe just leaving a wise-cracking sheriff?

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


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Review: Deadly Choices

Deadly Choices by Rachel McLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Zoe Finch is acting SIO in a kidnapping when Alison Osman takes her two children to Cadbury World; she turns her back for five minutes to get them a snack and they disappear. Alison's husband Ian is a serving police officer, could the kidnapping be a grudge from an enemy?

This twisted and turned as suspicion fell on lots of different people, especially when Zoe discovers that the same building firm is doing the roof at the Osman house as were working on ACC Jackson's house, could Ian Osman be connected to the Canary investigations?

This was both a self-contained kidnapping story and progressing the overarching Canary investigation. Very enjoyable.

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