Author: bookafterbook

Publication: 20th June 2024 – Michael Joseph

He’d once called her dangerous. And he had been right.

She was a spy. A warrior. A weapon.

Aya has returned home at last.

But she is not the same person who left Tala all those months ago.

And Tala isn’t the same either.

The threat of a war that could destroy the realm continues to grow and she is the only one who can save it.

Because she is also the Second Saint.

But there are those that see her as a pawn and want to use her powers for their own gain. Aya is about to learn that the real danger is closer to home than she ever could have imagined.

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

The Curse of Saints was one of my favourite books last year so I can’t tell you how much I’ve been waiting for its sequel, The Curse of the Sins, to come out and it was worth the wait. Engrossing, action-packed, and full of surprises, I couldn’t put it down.

The Curse of the Sins picks up right after the ending of the first book. After discovering the truth about their queen and her plans for the Second Saint, Aya and Will return to Tala with every intention to stop her. Once enemies, now lovers, they have to pretend that nothing’s changed during their stay in Rinnia, while trying to save their realm from war.

As the Second Saint, Aya is popular now. Everyone expects great things and power from her and she feels the pressure of these expectations, especially as she keeps playing a game of pretending with everyone, except Will. Oh, the romance between these two was perfect! Swoony, sexy, and full of chemistry and tension that kept me completely absorbed.

In the meantime, in Rinnia, Aedion must face responsibilities and challenges as the new king. He’s always known he was heir to the throne, but he didn’t expect to kill his uncle to do it. With so many enemies around him, he doesn’t know who to trust, and he is keeping secrets that, if discovered, could put everyone in danger.

The Curse of Sins is even better than the first book. As the first book in the trilogy, The Curse of Saints focuses more on world building and introduction to the characters and the plot. The Curse of Sins brings it all together, adding exciting romance, a bit of drama, and many more twists and turns, with a fantastic and explosive cliffhanger that makes me count down the days until the third book.

A huge thank you to MichaelJoseph and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.

Kate Dramis is an Atlanta-based writer whose obsession with fantasy worlds and escaping into a good love story eventually drove her to chase her dreams of being an author. She is the author of the instant #2 Sunday Times Best Seller, The Curse of Saints.

When she’s not busy writing banter that makes her laugh in an embarrassingly loud fashion, you can find her impulse-booking her latest travel adventure, snuggling with her dogs and cat, or tormenting her growing legion of readers on TikTok and Instagram with vague book teasers.

Publication: 28th May 2024 – Headline Eternal

When former naval captain, Harry Kincaid, is left in the lurch with his flighty older sister’s three unruly children, he hasn’t a clue how to handle it. Desperate, and prepared to pay whatever it takes, he turns to Miss Prentice’s School for Young Ladies for an emergency governess who can get his formerly ordered house running shipshape again.

After a strict and miserable upbringing, fledgling governess Georgie Rowe doesn’t believe that children should be seen and not heard. She believes that childhood should be filled with laughter, adventure, and discovery (. . . everything hers wasn’t). Thankfully, the three Pendleton children are already delightfully bohemian and instantly embrace her unconventional approach. However, their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, is another matter entirely.

Georgie and Harry are soon butting heads over their differences, but as time passes, their attraction soon becomes undeniable and, after all, all’s fair in love and war…

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

When I read a novel by Virginia Heath I always expect a good dose of entertainment, romance, and intrigue and All’s Fair in Love and War didn’t disappoint.

Sixteen-year-old Georgina “Georgie” Rowe is left by her odious stepfather on the steps of Miss Prentice’s School for Young Ladies where she will learn to become a governess. Six years later, all her friends have found jobs, while she’s just failed her thirty-third job interview because she simply can’t help voicing her more progressive teaching method to the parents.

Captain Henry Kincaid comes home from a long day of work to discover that her free-spirit sister has left her three young children in his care while she is off on an adventure with her husband in Egypt. Desperate for help, he turns to Miss Prentice and offers Georgie a job on the spot. Right from the beginning, they argue on their different ideas not only about teaching, but about everything. After a troubled childhood spent following her stepfather from navy base to navy base, Georgie wants to make sure that the children have the care and stability that she’s never had and she prefers children to have fun while learning. Henry, on the other hand, was raised by a stern Admiral who instilled in him a sense of duty and discipline and, following a romantic mishap that almost put a stop to his rise in the Navy, he has put his job in front of everything else, including his family. Being a Navy man, he believes in time management and order and prefers a more traditional and strict kind of schooling and life. Of course, the more time they spend together, the more their differences pale against the attraction they feel for each other.

If you are looking for a witty and romantic read, I can’t recommend All’s Fair in Love and War enough: there is slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, an adorable dog who often gets in trouble, and three energetic and charming children who know how to create havoc!

A huge thank you to Headline Eternal and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Twenty-one books and two Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, and it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

Publication: 23rd May 2024 – Hodder & Stoughton

The brilliant third novel from the acclaimed author of THE COLOURS OF DEATH.

During a remote meeting, a Portuguese official watches from Lisbon as his colleague, Emanuel Francisco, a diplomat based in London’s Portuguese embassy, dies of what looks to be a heart attack. When no one comes into the room to Francisco’s aid, he tries frantically to contact the consulate to get immediate help.

No one picks up.

When local police finally arrive hours later, they walk into a disturbingly silent and horrific scene. Everyone inside the building is dead.

Inspector Isabel Reis, a Gifted Inspector with Portugal’s PolÍcia Judiciária, has developed a reputation for closing sensitive cases involving powerful people. When the gravity of what has happened in London is revealed, she’s called up to assist the Met’s CID in the investigation.

Two things quickly become very clear: this was a mass killing, and only one person escaped. The person the embassy was secretly protecting within its walls.

Now Isabel must quiet her turbulent mind and come face to face with a killer more ruthless than she has ever seen before . . . The answers lie with the sole survivor.

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

The third book in the gripping series that sees as protagonist Inspector Isabel Reis of the Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria is as exciting and immersive as the previous two books. Set in a world where some people are Gifted with powers of telepathy and telekinesis, Isabel is one of them. From her native Lisbon, Isabel and her partner Aleksander Vonorov travel to London to help the local police in a mysterious and diplomatically sensitive case. During a video call, the Portuguese ambassador in London dies suddenly and no one is answering the phones in the consulate. The English police can’t enter it without a delegate from the Portuguese government and that’s why detective Reis and Vonorov are on their way to London. When they finally enter the consulate, the scene in front of them is quite disturbing: all the people inside are dead. What’s more, someone was hiding inside the consulate and they managed to escape. As they try to figure out what happened inside the consulate and what happened to the only survivor of the attack, Isabel must also deal with the aftermath of a previous investigation and the growth of her gift.

Broken Oaths is another brilliant addition to this well-written and captivating series by Patricia Marques. The case Isabel is working is fascinating, thrilling, and full of twists. Unlike the previous books, Isabel is not the one in charge of the investigation, but she must follow the lead of the English police, who doesn’t seem to trust her and her powers. While her powers become stronger, she also feels isolated and more vulnerable as she keeps secrets from Vonorov and her friends.

Part mystery, part paranormal, Broken Oaths kept me completely immersed and I couldn’t put it down and it left me anxiously waiting for the next book!

A huge thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.

Half-Angolan and half-Portuguese, Patricia was born in Portugal but moved to England when she was eight. As well as the MA in Creative Writing from City she holds a BA in Creative Writing from Roehampton. She lives in London and The Colours of Death was her first novel. House of Silence is her second.

Publication: 23rd May 2024 – HarperCollins UK

As one of the daughters of an English Earl and his Indian Mistress, Anya Marleigh has defied Regency society’s rules by playing her sitar and singing beautifully for Queen Charlotte at the court of George III.

When she comes into an unexpected inheritance, her change of fortune comes with a catch ― she must marry before her twenty-fifth birthday or the money will go to her trustee ― the infuriating but devilishly sexy Lord Damian Ashton, who also has the power to approve her choice of husband.

As Anya begins to attract the wrong sort of marriage suitor, Lord Ashton is the only thing standing between her and a fate worse than death. But does he have his own reasons for hindering her happy ever after …?

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

The third season of Bridgerton left me in quite a reading slump and I couldn’t settle on anything to read until I started Unladylike Rules of Attraction, which kept me so engrossed that I read it in one sitting without even noticing it was the middle of the night by the time I finished it.

This is the second book in the Marleigh Sisters series which revolves around the three illegitimate daughters of an Earl and an Indian woman. After the death of their parents in India, the three sisters were brought to England to be raised by their evil stepmother and stepbrother and, when they grew up, they went their separate ways.

Now, Anya is a singer at the court of Queen Charlotte. She’s been left a huge inheritance by Dowager Countess Budleigh who preferred her to her own children. The only problem is that she will inherit the money only if she marries before her twenty-fifth birthday, which is only four months away. Until then, the money will remain in the hands of a trustee, lord Damian Ashton, a distant cousin raised in Jamaica, who came into title only after the sudden and mysterious deaths of his other relatives, and who will need to approve Anys’s choice of a husband. Anya is not short of suitors, but she and Damian don’t exactly get along, despite their attraction to each other. Also, the Budleigh family has no intention of standing by as someone else inherits the money that they feel should go to them and are determined to do anything, including accusations of murder, to get it.

I really like the characters of Anya and Damian. Both must deal with their own share of prejudice because of their origins and both have created their own fortune. Anya is clever and compassionate. She could use the inheritance to earn independence for herself and her protégée Trixie, but can she marry someone she is not remotely attracted to? And why does she keep thinking about Damian? Damian cares only about one person in his life, his brother Jeremy, but he intends to make sure that Anya gets what it’s hers.

Unladylike Rules of Attraction is a delightful and witty mix of romance and intrigue with a cast of fantastic characters and I am looking forward to the next book!

A huge thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Amita Murray lives in London. Just to keep things interesting, she writes in two genres: Regency romance and contemporary mystery. Her Arya Winters mysteries are published by Agora and are under a TV option. Her mystery novel Thirteenth Night won the Exeter Novel Prize in 2022. A collection called Marmite and Mango Chutney won the SI Leeds Prize in 2016 and her short story “A Heist in Three Acts” comes out in Ellery Queen Magazine in 2022.

Publication: 28th May 2024 – Bloom Books

From bestselling indie author and TikTok favorite Laura Thalassa comes the next installment of a witch fantasy set in the world of the Bargainer series. Only the dangerously handsome Memnon the Cursed can help Selene find the answers she seeks…if she doesn’t lose her heart first.

No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that’s exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.

After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate’s memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.

But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene’s magical academy, and they’ve taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he’s dead set on winning her heart. And that can’t happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.

AMAZON

Bespelled starts off right after the events of Bewitched, in which twenty-something witch Selene Bowers wakes up the powerful Memnon from a two-thousand years old curse only to discover that she is his soul mate and wife and he is out for revenge. Now, after recovering all her memories, Selene remembers her past life as Roxi and the events that led to the curse. Discovering that Selene is not the cause of his fall and eager to prove himself to her, Memnon offers her a magic bond that gives her control over him and that will be broken only when she falls in love with him. But can she really trust him? Also, someone is still kidnapping and killing witches on campus and Selena is determined to find out the truth and stop the murders once and for all.

I must admit that I enjoyed this book more than the first. I liked how Selene develops and is more dependent and stronger and how, even though she finds herself in danger many times, she is determined to protect the witches from being murdered. Her relationship with Memnon is still full of banter and fun and steamy, but now she is the one with the upper hand and the power, although he doesn’t mind obeying her orders. 

Bespelled is action-packed and full of twists. There is a swoony romance, there is horrifying murder, a morally gray handsome hero that doesn’t mind groveling for the woman he loves, a kickass heroine and, once again, an unexpected ending that makes me really look forward to the next book.

A huge thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Laura Thalassa is the author of over a dozen paranormal and fantasy romance novels. She fell in love with stories as a child and decided she never wanted to escape them. She lives in sunny southern California with her husband and children. When not writing, she can be found reading about lost civilizations, splashing with her kids in the Pacific, and hoarding chocolate for the apocalypse.

Publication: 15th May 2024 – Storm Publishing

A government aide kidnapped, a French diplomat murdered, a killer to uncover…

When mystery writer Marius Quin and his sleuthing partner Lady Bella Montague are hired by a secretive stranger to find a missing civil servant, they immediately set to work. Ernest Castleton was taken at gunpoint days earlier, but with the help of his distraught fiancée, Marius and Bella uncover a vital clue. Ernest hid a cryptic letter in the British Museum, and it sends the intrepid duo on a trail that stretches from the centre of London all the way to the English coast.

The investigation takes on a new twist when they arrive at the home of the British Foreign Secretary only to find a French diplomat murdered in the Grand Hall of the palatial property…

But who pushed Monsieur Rochefort to his death, and what does it have to do with Ernest Castleton’s disappearance? Marius and Bella must choose from a nefarious spy, a double-dealing diplomat and any number of spoilt aristocrats if they wish to catch the killer. With the clock ticking and only twenty-four hours left before the suspects disperse, they must call upon their every skill to stop more innocent people from dying…

A fast, fresh and fun 1920s murder mystery which combines the feel of a classic spy novel with a twisting whodunit, The Castleton Affair will leave you guessing until the very last chapter.

AMAZON

The adventures of mystery writer Marius Quin and his friend / first love Lady Bella Montague continue as they embark on their third investigation. They are hired by a mysterious and quite sinister man to find Ernest Castleton, a civil servant working in the British Foreign Office, who was kidnapped a few days earlier. With the help of his fiancée and a few clues left in a book in the British Museum, Marius and Bella manage to find and rescue Ernest, only to find out that the truth is more complicated.

After managing to get invited to the country house of the British Foreign Secretary while he is hosting a French delegation for a super secret meeting, Marius (who must pretend to be Bella’s very boring fiancée) and Bella, try to uncover the truth, but they get involved in a murder investigation when one of the French delegates is found murdered. Will they find the killer before it’s too late?

I love this series. It is witty, entertaining, and full of twists, even though The Castleton Affair is a bit different from the previous two books. It’s more of a spy novel, with lots of intrigue, but I enjoyed it as much as the others.

Marius and Bella are a fantastic duo of detectives, but my favourite character remains Percy, Marius’s basset hound whose loyalties lay with whoever gives him food.

The story is very well-written and full of detailed historical facts. I enjoyed the subplot about Marius’s father’s mysterious disappearance and I am looking forward to reading more about it in the next books.  Conspiracies, deception, secrets, and twists kept me completely engrossed in this intriguing third book in the Marius Quin Mystery series (which can also be easily read as a standalone) and I am looking forward to the next one!

A huge thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

I’m a Welsh-Irish-Englishman originally from South London but now living in Burgos, a beautiful city in the north of Spain, with my French-Spanish wife and our two young children.

Writing has always been my passion. It was my favourite half-an-hour a week at primary school, and I started on my first, truly abysmal book as a teenager. So it wasn’t a difficult decision to study literature at university which led to an MA in Creative Writing.

I grew up in a crime-fiction-mad family and had made a few clumsy attempts at writing one over the years before coming up with the idea for my contemporary whodunits “The Izzy Palmer Mysteries”. My second series, the 1920s-set “Lord Edgington Investigates…”, has been a great success, with each of the books becoming a bestseller. I have a new series called “The Marius Quin Mysteries” coming in November 2023.

If you’d like to tell me what you think about my detectives, my writing or the world at large, I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to get in touch at www.benedictbrown.net where you can also download my free mystery novellas and join my readers’ club.

Publishing: 9th May 2024 – Usborne

When American teen Evan Bright came to live with her long-lost father – the actual king of England – she instantly became the most-hated member of the royal family. The vicious clickbait articles and backstabbing new relatives are tough enough, but now she’s facing much scarier threats.
First there are protesters outside the palace gates and creepy messages. But when an armed intruder accesses the grounds to attack Evan and her boyfriend Kit, she starts to believe that someone within the palace is plotting her downfall.

They say what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger…but what if it’s the royal family who wants you dead?

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

I expected Royal Scandal to be as good as the first book, Royal Blood, but it’s even better. I don’t know how many times I gasped in surprise or held my breath while I was reading. The twists, the surprises, and that shocking mind-blowing ending that has me already counting down the days until the next book will come out.

In Royal Blood, the entire world found out that seventeen-year-old Evangeline Bright is the illegitimate daughter of the King of England. Now, everyone seems to have accepted Evan’s presence in Buckingham Palace, she has established some kind of relationship with her step-sister Maisie, the future queen, and she’s found love with the queen’s nephew, Kit. She is looking forward to spending Christmas with her new family, but, of course, things will be far from easy. First of all, on their arrival at Sandringham, there is a group of angry protesters outside the gates. And, then, Prince Benedict, who caused her so much trouble and almost got her arrested for murder in the first book, makes his return and Evan is sure he out for revenge. Add a gossip website that seems to know everything that is going on in the royal family, strange voices that make her doubt about her mental health, and the fact that Kit may be hiding something from her, Evan has sure a lot on her plate…

Action-packed, thrilling, and entertaining, I can’t recommend this novel (and this series enough). I love the author’s writing, which keeps me completely immersed, and Evan is a fantastic protagonist: she would do anything to protect the people she loves and often this leads her into dangers that kept me on the edge of my seat. I surely didn’t expect that surprising ending and I cannot wait to see what is coming next!

A huge thank you to Usborne and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Aimée Carter is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the award-winning author of more than a dozen books, including the Goddess Test series, the Blackcoat Rebellion series, and the Simon Thorn series for middle-grade readers, now a #1 internationally bestselling series under the title Die Erben der Animox.

Publication: 9th May 2024 – Orion

Sometimes finding your place in the world is the greatest puzzle of all…

Clayton Stumper is an enigma.

He might be twenty-five years old, but he dresses like your grandad and drinks sherry like your aunt.

Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by the sharpest minds in the British Isles and finds himself amongst the last survivors of a fading institution.

When the esteemed crossword compiler, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle to him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for his future.

Yet as Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve – and it’s a secret that will change everything…

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a delightful debut novel. I enjoyed the characters and their stories, the puzzles to solve (although I can’t say I was able to solve any of the puzzles), and the different timelines that made for an engrossing read.

The story is told from two different perspectives. Clayton Stumper is twenty-five-years old but, based on his clothes and his tastes, you wouldn’t know it. He was raised by the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers after he was found by its founder, Pippa Allsbrook, right after his birth. He doesn’t know anything about his biological parents and, even though he found a family in the members of the Fellowship, he always wondered. After Pippa’s death, Clayton finds out that she left him a series of puzzles that will lead him to the true identity of his parents. All he has to do is follow the clues that will take him first to London where he meets an old friend of Pippa and finds a new one for him. And, as we follow Clayton on his quest towards the truth, we also learn about Pippa, how she founded the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, about the challenges, the dreams, the secrets, and the relationships that form and grow over the years.

I liked how the narrative alternates between two timelines and I loved the character of Pippa, a strong woman who always knows what she wants, and the character of Clayton, who never felt like he belonged, but now has the chance to find what he’s been looking for. 

An emotional and entertaining read, The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is a story that is very easy to love!

A huge thank you to Orion and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Samuel Burr is a TV producer who has worked on popular factual shows including the BAFTA-nominated Secret Life of 4-Year-Olds. Samuel’s writing was selected for Penguin’s WriteNow scheme and in 2021 he graduated from the Faber Academy. He previously studied at Westminster Film School.

Publication: 30th April 2024 – Quercus Books

Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn may be a fraud, but she’s a benevolent one. So when her client asks her to help a friend who’s struggling to sell his apparently haunted goat farm, who’s Gretchen to say no?

It turns out said farmer isn’t quite as Gretchen imagined. Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced by Gretchen. And things get even worse for Gretchen when she finds herself face to face with Everett: a very real, very chatty ghost.

Everett wants Gretchen to help save Charlie from the family curse that’s left him haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s. Now Gretchen has one month to win over the sceptical farmer. And as they grow closer, Gretchen realises the only way to pull off the greatest con of her life might be to finally risk her heart.

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

The protagonist of this fantastic story is Gretchen Arcon. Gretchen is a fake medium because, of course, she can’t talk to the dead, but she feels she is doing something good if it helps grieving people move on, even if, in exchange, they give her lots of money. When her best client offers her a large fee to help her bridge partner, Gretchen is happy to help. All she has to do is to investigate strange events that seem to prevent the sale of his farm. However, when she arrives at Gilded Creek, there are quite a few surprises waiting for her. First of all, Charlie Waybill is not the old farmer Gretchen was expecting, but a handsome young man who scowls a lot and who doesn’t believe she can’t talk to the dead. Then, there is really a ghost in the farm who scares away potential buyers. His name is Everett and he’s been cursed to never leave the farm since the 1920s. And, he reveals that if Charlie manages to sell and leave the farm, he will be destined to the same family curse. Gretchen needs to convince Charlie to not sell the farm, but he is stubborn and he doesn’t trust her. So, not only she has to earn his trust and convince him that the curse is real, but she also must face the past that still haunts her and makes her keep people at a distance.

I must admit that I had a bit of a slow start, but, as the story progressed, I really started to enjoy it and I didn’t want it to end. Happy Medium is fun, engaging, and witty. I loved the easy relationship between Gretchen and Everett, who was my favourite character. How not to love a chatty and honest ghost who watches too much television? The romance is also well-developed: an enemies-to-lovers, grumpy-vs-sunshine love story that kept me completely immersed.

Sarah Adler is definitely an author I will keep reading. She created an heart-warming and satisfying story of romance, family, and friendship that kept me entertained for hours!

A huge thank you to Quercus and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Sarah Adler writes romantic comedies about lovable weirdos finding their happily ever afters. She lives hers in Maryland with her husband and daughter and spends an inordinate amount of her time yelling at her mischievous cat to stop opening the kitchen cabinets.

Twitter @sarahadler
Instagram @sarahadlerwrites
Website sarahadlerwrites.com

Publication: 28th March 2024 – Zaffre

You can choose your home, but you can’t choose who lives next door . . .

Twenty-five-year-old Kat Bennett has never felt at home anywhere, especially not in crumbling Shelley House. The other residents think she’s prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat is plagued by guilt from her past and looking for somewhere to belong.

Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling has lived in Shelley House for longer than anyone else, and if you believe the other tenants, she’s as cantankerous and vindictive as they come. Dorothy may spend her days spying on the neighbours, but she has a closely guarded secret herself – and a good reason for barely leaving her home.

When their building faces demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy become unlikely allies in their quest to save their historic home; and even less likely detectives when they suspect that foul play is coming from within Shelley House . . .

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

Shelley House is the only mansion left of the original houses built on Poets Road, in the village of Chalcot, more than a century ago. Once a beautiful mansion, now it’s in constant need of repairs that the landlord keeps ignoring. The residents are a group of people with not much in common who barely acknowledge each other, but when they face eviction, they come together to save the building they call home, especially two women.

Dorothy Darling is the oldest resident of Shelley House, having been living there for more than thirty years, and every day she checks that everything is in order, recording the comings and goings of the other residents in her diary. She has her routine which includes making sure that the post is sorted, that the trash is in the correct bin, and, above all, that she doesn’t have any kind of relationship with the other residents.

Kat Bennet is the newest resident. Chalcot is the only place where Kat Bennet had ever felt at home, until she was ten years old. Since then, she’s been moving around, never finding a permanent place to stay. Back after fifteen years, she is renting a room from Joseph Chambers and his adorable dog Reggie, in the flat right in front of Dorothy’s, but she has no intention to stay long, just a few weeks until she figures out what to do next. 

Dorothy and Kat couldn’t be more different and yet so similar. Dorothy has lived in Shelley House for more than thirty years and has no intention of ever leaving, even if the building collapses around her. For Kat her stay at Shelley House is only temporary, just a few weeks, and she is ready to leave without a notice. Both are haunted by a past that it’s slowly revealed and that keeps them from forming any kind of relationship with anyone, but the demolition of the building and a cute Jack Russel may change that.

I really enjoyed Nosy Neighbours. While stopping the eviction from Shelley House is at the centre of the story, there is so much more to keep you engrossed. The personal lives of the residents, the sense of community, the friendships and the love stories, and a cast of wonderful and relatable characters that keep you entertained from beginning to end. Beautifully-written, heartwarming, and humorous, I can’t recommend this book enough!

A huge thank you to Zaffre and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.

Freya Sampson is the USA Today bestselling author of The Last Library and The Girl on the 88 Bus. She studied History at Cambridge University and worked in television as an executive producer, making documentaries about everything from the British royal family to neighbours from hell. She lives in London with her husband, children, and cats. Nosy Neighbours is her third novel.