Book After Book

Publication: 13th June 2023 – Sphere

From the author of tiktok sensations and global bestsellers The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain 

Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom.

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. 

Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig – until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favourite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job. 

Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but… those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice? 

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Love, Theoretically is another fantastic STEM romance whose protagonist is Elsie, a theoretical physicist (which I am already familiar with thanks to my endless rewatching of the Big Bang Theory), who works as an adjunct professor at several Boston universities that don’t pay much and she shares a crappy apartment with her best friend Cece and her hedgehog. She’s turned to fake-dating to pay off her student loans and, beside a few idiots who tried to ask for more, so far, she can’t complain. Except when it comes to her current fake boyfriend, or better yet, his arrogant and handsome brother, Jack, who seems to see right through her. Things turn more complicated when Jack turns out to be an experimental physicist on the committee for a tenure position at MIT she’s interviewing for and also the same man who ruined the career of her mentor. Elsie is determined to get the job and fight against the man who is her enemy even though she finds him very attractive. How can she fall for the very same man she should despise?

Elsie is a brilliant character. Her weakness is – beside cheese – that she can’t never say no to people. She can’t say no to her mother when she wants her to play negotiator between her two brothers; she can’t say no to her mentor when he wants her to keep doing multiple jobs instead of trying to get the tenure position; she can’t say no to the many students who ask her for an extension with the most absurd excuses. She has the unique skill to read people and adapt to them so that she can win them over. However, Jack is the exception. She can’t understand him, can’t figure out what he is going to do next. Elsie is funny, smart, and determined, while Jack is probably my favorite of Ali Hazelwood’s men: behind that tough and grumpy exterior there is an adorable, honest, and reliable man. 

Ali Hazelwood never disappoints: the enemies-to-lovers trope, the witty banter and the sexy chemistry between Elsie and Jack, the women in STEM theme who have to deal with sexism in the workplace, nerdy and fantastic characters, and the rivalry between experimental and theoretical physicists… witty, immersive, and romantic, I read Love, Theoretically in one day!

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

Ali Hazelwood is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

Publication: 8th June 2023 – Zaffre

Motherland meets Midsomer Murders in this fresh and funny mystery about a group of soon-to-be mums who turn detective when there’s a murder at their antenatal class.

For Alice and her partner Joe, moving to the sleepy Cotswold village of Penton is a chance to embrace country life and prepare for the birth of their unexpected first child. He can take up woodwork; maybe she’ll learn to make jam. But the rural idyll they’d hoped for doesn’t quite pan out when a dead body is discovered at their local antenatal class and they find themselves suspects in a murder investigation.

With a cloud of suspicion hanging over the heads of the whole group, Alice sets out to solve the mystery and clear her name, with the help of her troublesome dog, Helen. However, there are more secrets and tensions in the heart of Penton than first meet the eye. Between the discovery of a shady commune up in the woods, the unearthing of a mysterious death years earlier and the near-tragic poisoning of Helen, Alice is soon in way over her head.

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Today, I am thrilled to be on the blog tour for The Expectant Detectives, the fantastic debut novel by Kat Ailes.

Alice and Joe are expecting their first baby and they have decided to leave behind the chaos of London and move to the quiet town of Penton in the Cotswold Hills. With just a few weeks before the birth, they have just the time to organize their new house for the arrival of their baby and attend antenatal class. Alice hopes to bond with other future mothers and make a few friends, but what she gets is mopping the floor while one of them gives birth and being involved in a murder investigation.

This was quite an enjoyable and intriguing cozy mystery and I had so much fun reading it. There is a lot going on. A picturesque setting, a small community, an organic farm commune with a few secrets, gong baths (a meditation thing), and lots more. The author put together an eclectic cast of characters with little in common, except for pregnancy and murder. And it is the murder that allows Alice to bond with the other expectant mothers as, helped by three adorable and funny dogs (especially Alice’s dog, Helen, who was my favorite character in the entire novel!), they start their own investigation, first out of curiosity, and then to help one of their own under suspicion. 

The story is told from Alice’s perspective. She is funny, smart, and authentic. Her dry humour made me often laugh, and I found her approach to motherhood, her fears, and her doubts, relatable and honest. Initially, she starts snooping together with her new friend Poppy for fun – and to avoid unpacking all the boxes in her new house -, but then the investigation turns more serious and things hit closer to home when she starts suspecting that her partner Joe is hiding something.

I really liked The Expectant Detectives. I enjoyed the writing, the humour, the characters (especially the dogs), and the mystery where I figured out some of the things on my own, but I was mostly taken by surprise. Immersive, fun, and refreshing, The Expectant Detectives is a fantastic read!

A huge thank you to Tracy and Zaffre for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a proof of the novel.

Follow the rest of the blog tour:

Kat Ailes‘ debut novel, The Expectant Detectives, was runner-up for the Comedy Women in Print Unpublished Prize 2021. She works as an editor and freelanced for several years to allow her to take a couple of belated gap years, including hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. She now lives in the Cotswolds with her lovely husband and son and her beautiful but foolish dog.

Publication: 8th June 2023 (eBook), 31st August 2023 (paperback) – One More Chapter

A Siren’s call… to murder

Former Met police officer Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is working a trial period as an auxiliary Detective Sergeant with the Penstowan police force. But living and working alongside DCI Nathan Withers – while still trying to grow her catering company – brings its own challenges, especially when Jodie’s attention is quickly taken up by the suspicious drowning of a local fisherman.

While tourists and locals alike are falling under the spell of the annual mermaid festival with its captivating legends of Sirens luring fishermen to their deaths, Jodie and Nathan fear they may have found themselves in the middle of a very real – and very dangerous – turf war. As the casualties start to stack up, they must face the likelihood that something sinister has been going on under their noses for some time…

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Jodie Parker had promised her daughter and her mother that once she left the Met she was done with serious and dangerous policing working. However, working as an auxiliary DS with the Penstowan police means that she’s been called to help her boyfriend, DCI Nathan Withers, on a few cases, while also growing her own catering service. When, dressed as a mermaid for the annual local festival, she stumbles upon a body, she has no choice but to get involved in the investigation. The murdered man is a local fisherman who seemed to be involved in something suspicious and possibly illegal. When another local is found unconscious and tortured it is clear that the two cases are linked and Jodie and Nathan need to find out the truth before someone else gets hurt.

Jodie Parker is an interesting and well-developed character. She is trying to juggle two jobs, and trying not to disappoint her teenage daughter, her widowed mother, and her charming boyfriend. For twenty years she worked in the London Metropolitan Police, which she left to return to her place of birth, promising her daughter and mother that she was done with that life. However, that is easier said than done, especially when she is really good at her job (except for the boring paperwork side of the job) and she keeps finding herself involved in investigations.

The case she is now working is surrounded by the local legend of the mermaid which adds a spooky atmosphere to the event. The reality, however, is much more complex, practical, and full of twists.

A Cornish Seaside Murder is the sixth book in the Nosey Parker series, but it’s the first one I read so I can’t honestly tell you that it can be easily read as a stand-alone. It is entertaining, suspenseful, and engrossing, and I enjoyed it so much that I plan to read the other books in the series.

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

Fiona Leitch is a novelist and screenwriter with a chequered past. She’s written for footballing and motoring magazines, childbirth videos and mail order catalogues; DJ’ed at illegal raves in London, been told off by a children’s TV presenter during a studio debate; and was the Australasian face of a series of TV commercials for a cleaning product. All of which has given her a thorough grounding in the ridiculous, and helped her to write funny stuff.

Publication: 25th May 2023 – Hodder & Stoughton

What if your new colleague is the one person who leaves you speechless?

Harper Jenkins has a way with words. As Celebrity Editor at a glossy magazine, she knows exactly how to get tight-lipped Hollywood stars talking, landing her exclusive stories and a great reputation.

There’s only one person who leaves her speechless – her arrogant colleague Ryan, who has been hired as the new Features Editor. Harper remembers Ryan from a decade ago, when they both interned together. Back then she had believed he was someone she could trust – but he betrayed her completely and they’ve never spoken since.

Thrown together again in a busy newsroom, Harper and Ryan clash on everything – he can’t bear how chaotic and messy she is while she declares him uptight and infuriating. But as the tension between them builds, who will get to have the last word?

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I have adored all Katy Birchall’s novels (she is one of my autobuy author, after all), but I think that The Last Word is my favorite so far. I fell in love with the story and the characters, and I stayed up late to finish reading it.

The protagonist of the novel is Harper Jenkins. A celebrity journalist, she is not only good with the written word. She can convince celebrities to open up to her like no other journalists can’t so that her articles are always exclusive. On the personal side, she’s never committed to anyone, not ever since she got her heart broken by the only guy she ever trusted. The problem is that now that same guy sits next to her at work as the new Features Editor, but she hasn’t forgotten his betrayal. Their arguments become the entertainment of the office as they fight for who has the last word, but what happens when the two of them spend more and more time together?

I loved the character of Harper. She is a workaholic with a strained relationship with her very dysfunctional family. She is messy and chaotic, and she is also genuine, loyal, and relatable. Her approach to celebrities as humans, making them feel comfortable and at ease (and, in one case, helping them give birth in the back seat of a car), makes her successful in a job she loves, but for which she must fight tooth and nail. Her relationship with Ryan is not only the very essence of the enemies-to-lovers trope, but also the opposite-attracts trope. Where Harper is loud and the dictionary definition of disorganized, Ryan is neat and tidy, quiet and reserved. He is adorable and kind and it is clear neither of them has moved on from what happened ten years earlier.

The Last Word is a witty, entertaining, sparkling, and addictive novel and I didn’t want it to end. I can’t recommend it enough as I wait for whatever the author writes next!

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

Katy is the author of several young adult novels including The It Girl series, the Hotel Royale series and Morgan Charmley: Teen Witch. She is the co-author of the middle grade Lightning Girl series and Star Switch with Alesha Dixon, and the Find the Girl teen series with YouTube stars Lucy and Lydia Connell. Katy was proud to be the author of a retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma for the Awesomely Austen series, a collection of Austen’s novels retold for younger readers. She has also written a non-fiction book, How to be a Princess: Real-Life Fairy Tales for Modern Heroines.

Katy lives in London with her partner, Ben, and her rescue dog, Bono.

Publication: 6th September 2022 – Headline Eternal

Chaotic, messy and madly in love.

Lizzie Blake has made endless mistakes. Kitchen fires, pyramid schemes, you name it, she’s done it . . . and made a mess of it too.

One mistake she never makes? Risking anything more serious than a one-off hook-up. But after losing yet another bakery job due to her uncontrolled ADHD, she breaks her cardinal rule and has a two-night stand.

Once burned, twice shy, Rake has given up on relationships. And feelings. And any form of intimacy for that matter. Two nights with charming, chaotic Lizzie might have him lowering his guard, but then he’s heading back to Australia, far away from the surprising feelings that she seems to inspire. But when Lizzie realises she’s pregnant, Rake knows he’ll do anything to be in his child’s life, but emotional vulnerability is off the table.

Except everyone makes mistakes, and Lizzie and Rake might have just stumbled upon the best mistake of their lives.

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I don’t find it often in romantic comedies, but I love the trope boy-meets-girl, they have a one-night stand (with the intention of never seeing each other again), and suddenly they are expecting a baby and falling for each other. It’s entertaining and fun. Add the opposite-attract trope and you have an immersive, witty, and spicy novel that I enjoyed very much.

The two protagonists of this novel, Lizzie and Rake, are indeed different. She is chaotic, disorganized, and loud. He is quiet, neat, and tidy. They meet one night at a bar and they are instantly attracted to each other. After a weekend spent together, Lizzie goes back to her life and Rake goes home to Sidney, expecting never to meet again, until the lines on multiple pregnancy tests turn pink and Rake uproots his life to move to Philadelphia and be close to Lizzie and their future baby. Things will be far from easy as they adjust to living together, family and work drama, and, most importantly, trying to follow their rule of having a platonic, absolutely-no-sex, relationship.

What I love most about Mazey Eddings’s novels is her cast of fantastic characters that feel authentic and relatable. While Harper, from her debut novel A Brush with Love, remains my favorite of her characters, I loved Lizzie. Dealing with her ADHD, she feels too much, she says too much, and she uses baking (and sex) to filter her energy. She runs away from attachment and relationships (except for her three best friends), she changes jobs continuously, and she’s been told she is a disaster from a young age. And then she meets Rake, stable and workaholic, who didn’t expect to have his life completely changed by a woman he barely knows. Despite their differences, Rake and Lizzie are adorable as they get to know each other and pretend that they are not attracted to each other.

If you are looking for a fun, romantic, and well-written novel with fantastic characters and lots of spice then Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake is the one for you!

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

Mazey Eddings is a neurodiverse author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to her cats, Yaya and Zadie. She can most often be found reading romance novels under her weighted blanket and asking her boyfriend to bring her snacks. She’s made it her personal mission in life to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain. With roots in Ohio and North Carolina, she now calls Philadelphia home.

To learn more, visit: www.mazeyeddings.com
or follow Mazey on Instagram: @mazeyeddings.

Publication: 30th May 2023 – Piatkus

A high society amateur detective at the heart of Regency London uses her wits and invisibility as an ‘old maid’ to protect other women in a new and fiercely feminist historical mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Alison Goodman.

Lady Augusta Colebrook, ‘Gus’, is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.

The sisters set out to Caroline’s country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. With Lord Evan injured and unconscious, the sisters have no choice but to bring him on their mission to save Caroline. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan.

Back in London, Gus can’t stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need-society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins.

A rollicking and joyous adventure, with a beautiful love story at its heart, about two rebellious sisters forging their own path in Regency London.

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The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is yet another historical novel that I enjoyed lately and one of my favourites. It is fun and witty, suspenseful and intriguing, and with a cast of interesting characters.

The protagonist of the novel is Augusta. In their forties, Augusta and her twin sister Julia are considered spinsters, women who should find a quiet occupation and behave as society – and their brother – tells them. However, Augusta has very little interest in staying idle and, in the hope of distracting her sister from the grief over her betrothed’s death, she accepts to help one of their friends retrieving a few incriminating letters from a former lover. This scary and yet exhilarating adventure leads Augusta and Julia to help another woman abused by her husband, but their rescue is first interrupted and then helped by a highway who Augusta recognizes as Lord Evan Belford, who should be in exile in Australia following a murder charge. After this other enterprise full of dangers and nearly escapes, Augusta and Julia promise each other that their detective days are over, but, when they hear of another woman in trouble, the thrill and excitement of the adventure, the desire of not feeling powerless and useless, and in Augusta’s case, the chance of seeing again Lord Evan (who she believes innocent of the murder charge) prevail.

I really enjoyed this novel. I loved the plot, which is full of twists and suspense as well quite a few entertaining and funny scenes. It’s full of historically accurate facts as well as historical figures, like the writer Frances Burney. It also addresses themes like the very poor state of asylums where powerful men confine women who don’t conform to society or the poor who are left in dreadful conditions.

I adored the characters. Augusta is a fantastic heroine. Because of her sex and her age, she is constantly underestimated by society. Her desire of independence and her sharp wit is usually frowned upon: “it was a fact that many men of our acquaintance did not think a woman capable of a genuine sense of humour, or if she did exhibit something of the kind, that it was a singular and unfeminine trait.”. But she doesn’t let society and powerful men dictate her life. She has a very close relationship with her twin sister Julia, so much so that they often communicate telepathically, and she is very protective towards her, while she has a strained relationship with her snobbish brother who thinks women should just do as they are told. In their adventures, Augusta and Julia are helped by their loyal butler Weatherly and by Lord Evan Belford. Accused of murder twenty years earlier, he was exiled to Australia. However, he’s back in England and he professes his innocence and Augusta has every intention to prove it as the two develop a romantic relationship.

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is a well-written, captivating, and superb novel with a fantastic ending that makes me eager for the sequel. Highly recommended!

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

Alison Goodman is the bestselling Australian author of several novels including the reknowned Eona and The Two Pearls of Wisdom.

Publication: 10th April 2023 – The Book Folks

New to the private investigator game, Edie Fox is delighted when a handsome American client with disconcertingly dazzling teeth asks her to find his missing cousin, Isabella. Especially when he leaves her a bundle of cash to get started.

However, the case quickly gets complicated, and so does her life when a one-night stand from her Oxford university days gets in touch and asks if her 26-year-old daughter, Maeve, is also his child.

Juggling a chaotic home, a brimming wine glass, a daughter besotted with her new-found daddy, and a rekindled old flame, Edie must try to focus on the job.

But with unreliable witnesses, a less than trustworthy client, and an assistant with her mind on other things, Edie will be up against it and risks losing all.

THE MISSING AMERICAN is the first book in a series of hilarious cozy mysteries by bestselling author Julie Highmore. Look out for the next book in the series, THE RUNAWAY HUSBAND, coming soon!

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Today, I am thrilled to take part in the blog tour for The Missing American, the first book in the Edie Fox Detective Agency series by Julie Highmore.

Edie Fox is a former teacher turned private investigator, but, so far, her cases have involved only a couple of cheating spouses, until an handsome man enters her small office. Mike Smith has arrived from the US in search of his cousin Isabella, a photographer who has moved to the UK a few months back, and he hasn’t heard from her in months. He is very worried and he is willing to pay Edie a lot of money to find her. Edie starts investigating, but when first a new PI enters the game and then Mike suddenly disappears, she starts to suspect that something more sinister is in place. To further complicate matters, someone from Edie’s past resurfaces, turning her quiet family life upside down.

The Missing American is an entertaining and suspenseful read. The mystery of the missing photographer and her deceitful cousin make for an intriguing read with quite a few unexpected twists and turns. Edie’s personal life is also under the spotlight. After a one-night stand at university, she found herself pregnant and she raised her daughter Maeve all on her own. Now, her daughter has also a child and they are raising him together. Smart, witty, and resourceful, Edie uses her love for crime novels as her PI training. She is helped by a cast of young side characters that are interesting, unusual, and well-developed.

The story is well-paced and I enjoyed the storylines both on the professional and personal side as they are quite full of drama. And when the lines blend, things become even more interesting!

A huge thank you to The Book Folks for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a proof of this entertaining novel.

The daughter of an RAF officer, Julie moved around a lot as a child, which meant many moves and many goodbyes, and fourteen schools to turn up to as a shy new girl. But eventually settled in Oxford in her twenties and, after having three children, studied first at Westminster College, then Oxford Brookes University, where she gained a first class degree in English. As part of the course, she studied creative writing with Philip Pullman, who encouraged her to continue with her writing after graduation. This she did, and her published work includes nine rom-com novels, and more recently, a crime fiction series for The Book Folks.

The first in the series – features the somewhat flawed, Oxford-based private investigator, Edie Fox; a single mother and very young grandmother who inadvertently gets her precious family caught up in her first big case. Although her recent novels have ventured into some dark places, Julie manages to inject humour into the stories without diminishing the seriousness of the situations Edie finds herself in.

Oxford is a city Julie knows well, but she has chosen to leave the beautiful and atmospheric colleges and cloisters to other authors, and her protagonist is based in the more edgy and diverse east of the city, full of small Victorian houses, students, cafes, delis and retired lecturers.When not writing, Julie enjoys music, binge-watching a good TV series, country strolls, doing the New York Times crossword and hanging out with her husband and ever-expanding family.

Author’s bio on website: https://thebookfolks.com/author/julie-highmore/

Social Media links
Website: https://thebookfolks.com
Instagram: @the_book_folks
Twitter: @thebookfolks
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thebookfolks
Blog: https://thebookfolks.com/blog/
Julie’s Twitter: @JulieHighmore

Purchasing links:
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C23XYCKG/
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C23XYCKG/
CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C23XYCKG/
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C23XYCKG

Publication: 25th May 2023 – Hodder Children’s Books

A heartless beast
A sister’s sacrifice
And a love so strong it will drown the raging sea …
THIS FAIRYTALE IS CURSED

In a kingdom that fears the sea, Ria Lucroy longs to be brave.

Bodies are washing ashore and everyone knows who’s to blame. Legends of the Heartless King shroud the continent in fear; they call him a pirate, a monster, a god. When his mercenaries raid her father’s merchant ship, Ria’s family is faced with a horrifying demand. They will spare his life, in exchange for one of his daughters.

Determined to save her sisters, Ria launches herself into the world of pirates. Face-to-face with the Heartless King, she finds he is far more than the stories told. He is a man, with a human name and blood-stained hands, bound to the seas by a centuries-old curse. As their chemistry blooms into something more, Ria finds herself caught in an ancient web of secrets.

Battling creatures of the deep alongside those that reign its surface, Ria discovers how to love a heartless man and that some curses aren’t so easy to break.

Prepare for stormy seas and swoony romance in this addictive retelling of Beauty and the Beast … Perfect for fans of Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreakers series and Sarah J Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses.

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A Curse of Salt is the debut novel by Sarah Street, an immersive YA fantasy and a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but with pirates and gods.

The protagonist of the novel is Aurelia “Ria” Lucroy, a young woman who dreams of being brave and see the world, but, instead, her place is at home, helping to take care of her ailing sister and their father. However, as the bodies of the local merchants start arriving ashore and her own father’s life is in danger, Ria decides to sacrifice herself and protect her family and her village, by offering herself as a sacrifice to the Heartless King and his crew of pirates. He is known for his ruthlessness and he is feared by everyone who travels by the sea, but Ria soon finds out that behind the Heartless King there is, in reality, a man, Sebastian, who, together with his crew, is bound to the sea by a centuries-old curse (like Davy Jones, but without tentacles!).

I had a bit of a slow start, but then I really started to enjoy A Curse of Salt. The romance is well-developed: an impossible love and the enemies-to-lovers trope worked really well between Ria and Sebastian. I liked how their relationship developed, slowly and naturally, with easy banter and witty exchanges.

The world-building is intriguing and it blends well with the narrative, while the setting is evocative and the writing is beautiful. A fantastic and complex cast of characters kept me immersed in the novel, each with its own story and secret to tell. The ending was well-thought and satisfying and it leaves open for, hopefully, a sequel that I would certainly read! 

A huge thank you to Hachette Children’s Books and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this fantastic novel.

Sarah Street is a YA fantasy author, born and raised on Gadigal land in Sydney, Australia. She has a BA in English and Criminology and spends her days amid a hoard of books, playing Hozier songs to her houseplants and deciding what great body of water to write about next.

Publication: 30th May 2023 (eBook), 20th July 2023 (paperback) – HarperCollins

Not every Regency lady is looking for a husband…

As the daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress, impulsive Lila Marleigh has already broken the rules of society into tiny pieces.

When a face she never thought she would see again appears and begs for help, Lila must court notoriety once more and pit her wits against the annoyingly handsome aristocrat, Ivor Tristram. But does she risk opening her heart to the one person who can break it…?

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Unladylike Lessons in Love is an intriguing and entertaining historical romance told from the point of view of the two protagonists, the daughter of an English Earl and his Indian mistress who tries to fit into the London society and the handsome aristocrat who believes her to be his father’s mistress.

As the bastard daughter of the Earl of Beddington, Lila Marleigh’s reputation was never going to be good and, being the owner of London’s most fashionable salon and surrounded by a string of suitors every night hasn’t improved her expectations. Not that she cares. After all, she earns enough to live comfortably while cherishing her freedom and independence. Ivor Tristram is as handsome as he is annoying and he’s convinced that Lila is her father’s mistress. When someone from her past asks for her help, Lila and Ivor leave aside their difference and team up to prove someone’s innocence.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. At times the narrative is a bit repetitive and there are themes of abuse, children’s neglect, and racism that aren’t easy to read, but there is also spicy romance, witty banter, suspense, and a cast of characters that I really liked. Especially the female characters who come out all strong, smart, and determined, who won’t stop until they get what they want and I admire them, especially as they lived in a sexist society that looked down on them. The male protagonist, Ivor, is a bit broody, flawed, and stubborn, and the perfect hero to our heroine.

The first book in a series, Unladylike Lessons in Love is the perfect read for those who enjoy a swoony romance with a mystery to unravel!

A huge thank you 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: 7th March 2023 – Atria Books

Only Murders in the Building meets The Maid in this darkly beguiling locked-room mystery where someone turns up dead on the set of TV’s hottest baking competition—perfect for fans of Nita Prose, Richard Osman, and Anthony Horowitz.

Every summer for the past ten years, six awe-struck bakers have descended on the grounds of Grafton, the leafy and imposing Vermont estate that is not only the filming site for “Bake Week” but also the childhood home of the show’s famous host, celebrated baker Betsy Martin.

The author of numerous bestselling cookbooks and hailed as “America’s Grandmother,” Betsy Martin isn’t as warm off-screen as on, though no one needs to know that but her. She has always demanded perfection, and gotten it with a smile, but this year something is off. As the baking competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it’s merely sabotage—sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned to high—but when a body is discovered, everyone is a suspect.

A sharp and suspenseful thriller for mystery buffs and avid bakers alike, The Golden Spoon is a brilliant puzzle filled with shocking twists and turns that will keep you reading late into the night until you turn the very last page of this incredible debut.

AMAZON

The Golden Spoon is described as “Only Murders in the Building meets The Great British Bake Off”, so how could I resist? This is a satisfying, atmospheric debut, set in a big house, during a competitive reality show, with two hosts who hate each other, six competitors, and a killer on the loose.

Betsy Martin is a famous baker whose reality show has had huge success in the last ten years. Held in Grafton Manor, her family estate in the mountains of northern Vermont, each year, Bake Week has seen six home bakers coming together for a week and competing for the title of America’s best baker. This year, things are a bit different. For starters, Betsy is no longer the only host of the show, but she has a new partner, Archie Morris, who will judge the show with her, not that she had any choice in the matter. Also, someone seems to be sabotaging the competitors. And when, during a storm, someone is found murdered, the list of suspects is narrow.

I liked the setting of the novel: a remote big house in the mountains with its skeletons in the closet, no phones, a group of strangers with secrets, and a sense of dread that makes it clear that something bad is about to happen. I was hooked, even though sometimes the pace was a bit too slow. The story is told from the point of view of the seven protagonists (the six contenders and Betsy). These characters are complex and eccentric, some more disturbed and haunted than others, and I must admit that I didn’t like a few of them for most of the novel, but I really appreciated how they developed. 

Overall, I enjoyed The Golden Spoon and I read it in a couple of sittings. Claustrophobic, suspenseful, and dark, it kept me guessing until the end!

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

Jessa Maxwell lives in Jamestown, Rhode Island, with her husband, two cats, and three-legged dog. The Golden Spoon is her first novel.