Book After Book

Publication: 17 May 20178 by Bantam Press

On a stifling summer’s day, eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters sit in their broken-down car, waiting for their mother to come back and rescue them.

‘Jack’s in charge,’ she’d said. ‘I won’t be long.’ 

But she doesn’t come back. She never comes back. And life as the children know it is changed for ever.

Three years later, mum-to-be Catherine wakes to find a knife beside her bed, and a note that says:

I could have killed you.

Meanwhile, Jack is still in charge – of his sisters, of supporting them all, of making sure nobody knows they’re alone in the house, and – quite suddenly – of finding out the truth about what happened to his mother.

But the truth can be a dangerous thing…

I discovered Belinda Bauer a couple of years ago when I read her novel The Beautiful Dead. I loved the twisty plot, the captivating writing, and the way she creates and develops her characters. So when, a few months ago, I found out that she had a new novel coming out I was really excited and I couldn’t wait to read it, and I’d like to thank Transworld Books and Becky Short (who, by the way, was the one to send me a copy of The Beautiful Dead two years ago) for providing me with a copy of the book.

The story is told from three different points of view. The first is Jack Bright, a young boy who, after the death of his mother, had to grow up quickly and put himself in charge of his family. His father couldn’t cope with his wife’s lost, so, at fourteen, Jack has to take care of his two younger sisters, Joy, who spends her time piling up newspapers around the house, and Merry, the five-year-old who loves to read about vampires and scary clowns. Belinda Bauer really gets you into the head of this character, how he is overwhelmed by the fact that he has to take care and provide for his sisters, but, at the same time, he doesn’t want anybody to find out that they are left alone to not end up in foster care and be separated.

The other point of view is Catherine While, a happily married and seven-month pregnant woman who, one night, wakes up to find an intruder in her house. Her husband is away for work and she manages to scare the intruder away, but he left a message for her, a message that terrifies her so much that she doesn’t call the police or tell her husband.

You don’t have to wait long to find out the connection between Jack and Catherine and, while their paths cross multiple times, the police, in the meantime, is investigating a series of burglaries hitting the area around Taunton. The police’s investigation is narrated through the eyes of DCI John Marvel, an arrogant detective transferred from London who is looking for a big case that will make him look good to the eyes of his boss, and DS Reynolds, a know-it-all sergeant who always sticks to the rules. Although I didn’t really like these two characters, their exchanges created a few hilarious moments to the narration that made me laugh.

SNAP is dark and haunting, but also emotional, original, and gripping. I was completely absorbed into the characters’ lives and their tragic and moving stories. Once again, Belinda Bauer wrote a terrific must-read!

 

Lily Holmes is ready for a fresh start. And there’s no better place to begin again than the idyllic seaside town of Marram Bay.

All Lily wants to do is focus on making her new deli a success and ensuring her son’s happiness. Not the postcard creeping out of her handbag, and definitely not finding a new man in her life!

But this isn’t going to be as easy as she first thought. The town is in uproar about the city girl who’s dared to join them and she’s fighting a battle at every turn.

Perhaps with a little help from the gorgeous cider farmer next door, she may be able to win them over, but her past secrets threaten to ruin everything…

The brand new laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from bestseller Portia Macintosh. Perfect for fans of Jo Watson and Tilly Tennant.

 

This novel is the perfect summer read. Highly enjoyable, very atmospheric, and with engaging characters that will entertain you for the entire novel (there are a few scenes that are really hilarious). It opens with the protagonist, thirty-one-year old Lily Holmes, arriving to Marram Bay, a touristic town in Yorkshire, with her eight-year-old son, Frankie, full of hopes and dreams and ready for a new start. But her hopes are quickly crushed when she learns that the entire town doesn’t want her there, because of the new deli she is there to open. Luckily, Lily doesn’t give up easily and she prepares to win the town over.

I liked the character of Lily. She is portrayed as a strong woman, a single mother raising a child alone, juggling a full-time job, her eccentric mother who pretends to be her sister, the hate of a town that doesn’t want her there, and the arrival of two men who just seem to want to complicate her life even more. One is Nathan, her ex-boyfriend and father to her eight-year-old son. He is a hippie who wants to save the world by eating vegetables and spending his time on Lily’s couch watching reality shows and soap operas. The other man is Alfie, the handsome and charming neighbour who seems attracted to Lily, but he seems too perfect to be true.

SUMMER SECRETS AT THE APPLE BLOSSOM DELI is a heartwarming, well-written, and entertaining novel and I’d like to thank HQ Digital for providing me with an early copy of the book and for giving me the chance to take part in the blog tour.

PORTIA MACINTOSH has been ‘making stuff up’ for as long as she can remember – or so she says. Whether it was blaming her siblings for that broken vase when she was growing up, blagging her way backstage during her rock chick phase or, most recently, whatever justification she can fabricate to explain away those lunchtime cocktails, Portia just loves telling tales. After years working as a music journalist, Portia decided it was time to use her powers for good and started writing novels. Taking inspiration from her experiences on tour with bands, the real struggle of dating in your twenties and just trying to survive as an adult human female generally, Portia writes about what it’s really like for women who don’t find this life stuff as easy as it seems.

Since he was a child, Morgan Sheppard always wanted to be famous. It didn’t matter for what as long as he was recognized and adulated. When he was eleven-years-old something happened that put him on the spotlight and now, many years later, he is the famous presenter of a detective show. Spending his days popping pills and not caring about other people’s feelings, Morgan wakes up one day chained to a hotel room. There are five other people in the room, they don’t know each other and they don’t know how they got there, but the biggest surprise is the murdered body in the bath tub. A man wearing the mask of a horse appears on the screen of a TV to explain that they are all in the room of a hotel in central London. One of them is the killer and if Morgan manages to find out who it is in the next three hours they will all be free to go. If he doesn’t, the hotel will explode killing everyone inside it.

Morgan has recognised the man in the bath tub, he is someone who had been important for him for many years, and even the other people in the room all seem to have a connection with him. After making sure that there is no way out, Morgan starts the investigation, but his mind can’t focus as he struggles with his drug addiction and regrets from his past, and things get out of control as suspicion raises among the other “guests”.

This is a fast-paced novel, everything happens in a few hours, with flashbacks and memories that take the reader back in time to discover what happened that led this five people into this room. A real-life Cluedo with touches of Agatha Christie – although with a more claustrophobic atmosphere since much of the action happens inside a hotel room and, at some point, in a vent – this is an edgy and gripping read which I was surprised to discover is a debut because it’s very well-written and carefully plotted.

I’d like to thank Orion for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.

 

One ex.
One wedding.
One little white lie.

When Samantha Jenkins is asked to be the maid of honour at her best friend’s wedding, she couldn’t be happier. There are just three problems…

1) Sam’s ex-boyfriend, Liam, will be the best man.
2) His new girlfriend is pregnant.
3) Sam might have told people she has a new man when she doesn’t (see points 1 and 2 above)

So, Sam does the only sensible thing available to her… and hires a professional to do the job.

Actor Jake Porter is perfect for the role: single, gorgeous and cheap! Sam is certain it’s the perfect solution: no strings, no heartbreak and hopefully no chance of being found out.

But spending a week in the Scottish Highlands with Jake is harder than she imagined. He is the perfect boyfriend, charming, sexy and the hottest thing in a kilt since Outlander! And his dog Harry is quite possibly the cutest things Sam has ever seen!

As the wedding draws closer, Jake plays his part to perfection and everyone believes he is madly in love with Sam. The problem is, Sam’s not sure if Jake is acting anymore…

 

Although they are often predictable, I love romantic comedies. Even if I know how they are going to end, I enjoy reading them, especially if they are well-written and have engaging characters like THE WEDDING DATE by Zara Stoneley.

I adored this novel. I laughed from the first to the last page (there is a scene with horses that is particularly hilarious) and I loved all the characters, or at least the good ones. I really liked the character of Sam. She is loyal, funny, a good friend, and completely realistic. She likes to make lists and she doesn’t back down from difficult situations, like going to her best friend wedding and seeing her ex-boyfriend and his hugely pregnant new girlfriend with whom he cheated on her, or riding a horse when she is clearly not able to. I liked, Jake, the “fake” boyfriend. He is a struggling actor and he really gets into the role. He plays the perfect boyfriend and also the perfect man (it appears that there is nothing he can’t do), but he is also entertaining and smart, and I enjoyed his witty exchanged with Sam. Another character I loved is Sam’s mother. She has no filters, she is nosy, indiscreet, and every time Jake came out of the a lake completely wet (somehow this happened more than once) she shouted out for Mr. Darcy. Last but not least on the list of my favorite characters is Harry, the dog. He was the life of the party, always at the center of the attention and he created some of the most comic scenes in the book.

The Scottish and secluded castle is the perfect setting to this novel and the brilliant writing, the hilarious situations, and the witty exchanged kept me glued to the page. I read it in one day, trying to read as many pages as possible during my lunch break and reading (and laughing) well into the night.

I’d like to thank Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources and HarperImpulse for providing me with an early copy of the book and for giving me the chance to take part in the blog tour.

 

Born in a small village in Staffordshire, Zara Stoneley wanted to be James Herriot, a spy, or an author when she grew up. Writing novels means she can imagine she is all these things, and more!
Zara’s bestselling novels include ‘The Holiday Swap’, ‘Summer with the Country Village Vet’, ‘Blackberry Picking at Jasmine Cottage’ and the popular Tippermere series – ‘Stable Mates’, ‘Country Affairs’ and ‘Country Rivals’.
She lives in a Cheshire village with her family, a naughty cockapoo, and a very bossy cat, and loves spending time in sunny Spain.

Website: http://www.zarastoneley.com
Twitter: @ZaraStoneley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZaraStoneley

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zarastoneley/

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I read this book in two seats. It starts slow, but I found myself quickly immersed in this novel full of surprises and revelations.

CROSS HER HEART is about three women, three strong, determined, and brave women, all of them hiding secrets. Lisa is forty years old, she has a sixteen-year-old daughter, Ava, a good job, and a great best friend, Marylin. But Lisa is also afraid, afraid of a past that still terrifies her and that it’s now catching up with her.

Ava is a normal teenager, drinking, occasionally smoking, and worrying about boyfriends and school exams. She has a secret that she is keeping not only from her mother, but also from her best friends. But her mysterious Facebook admirer is not the only secret Ava is keeping.

Marylin has been Lisa’s best friend for ten years, since they started working for the same company. They spend a lot of time together, in and outside of work, but Marylin has never told Lisa that her life is not at all what it seems.

What I love about this author is that she completely and repeatedly takes you by surprise. I thought I knew exactly what was going on, who not to trust, and it turns out I was completely wrong. Every few pages there were new revelations, some I had already figured them out, but most were unexpected, and there were so many twists that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The characters are very well-crafted and developed. The relationship between mother and daughter is well explored. Lisa, because of her past, is an apprehensive and overbearing mother, always checking on Ava. Ava, like every sixteen-year-old, is annoyed by her mother’s attention but also feels guilty when she snaps at her. I also enjoyed reading about Lisa and Marylin’s relationship, how strong their friendship is, and how much they trust each other, secrets aside.

Secrets, obsession, and betrayal are at the center of this haunting and compulsive book (which is out next week) and I’d like to thank HarperFiction for providing me with an early copy.

 

 

First of all, look how beautiful is the cover of this novel, so delicate and elegant. I couldn’t stop looking at it.

Then there is the book itself which is immersive, memorable, and completely addictive. I really love Paige Toon’s novels, I can’t never get enough of them, but they always make me cry at the end. In this case, I cried at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.

The protagonist of this novel is Nell. She spends her time between London, where she lives with her mother, and Cornwall where she spends her holidays with her father.

Nell is five years old when she first met Vian. He is her same age, just two days of difference, and he is Ruth’s son, his father’s new girlfriend. At the beginning, Nell is a little cold towards Vian, but, at the end of the holiday, she is sad to go back to London and leave him behind.

“One day, maybe five years from now, you’ll look back and understand why this happened…”

Five years later, Nell’s mother has moved to France and Nell is happily living in Cornwall with her father, Ruth, and Vian to whom she is closer than ever. But fate separates them and Nell and Vian reunite again every five years, but the timing is never right and things won’t be easy between them.

Once again, Paige Toon created a series characters to fall in love with and gave them storylines that fill you up with emotions. I loved meeting Nell and Vian when they were children and see them grow up, being with them through their happiest and saddest moments. I laughed with them and I cried with them, and I wish they were my friends. It wasn’t only the relationship between Nell and Vian that kept me glued to the page, but Nell’s closed relationship with her father, the difficult relationship with her mother, and I enjoyed reading how she stayed closed to her childhood friends over the years.

I loved that Paige Toon set her novel between Cornwall, a place I am falling in love with thanks to her books, and Australia, a place I really wish to visit. Her descriptions are very atmospheric and vivid, the perfect frame to a beautiful and inspiring story.

I will be thinking about this unique and beautifully written story and its engaging characters for a long time and I’d like to thank Sara-Jade Virtue and Simon and Schuster UK for providing me with an early copy of the book.

 

I was drawn to this novel after reading online the positive reactions from early readers and the intriguing blurb. My expectations were fully met because I was hooked from the first page. The novel is set in 2013 and 2015 and it’s told from three different points of view: mostly Caroline, her husband Francis, and the unknown character that is staying in their house for a week.

Francis and Caroline have been together for fifteen years, married for eight, and they have a young son, Eddie. For the last few years their lives have been hard. Francis has been fighting (with no much conviction) an addiction to pills, so Caroline found comfort in the arms of her colleague Carl, eight years her junior. The affair ended “horribly”, according to her, and Francis stopped taking pills and, two years later, they are still trying to save their marriage, although it seems mostly for their son’s sake. This house swap is their chance to reconnect and to spend more time together without being too expensive, but things are strange from the beginning because the house seems unlived and cold. There aren’t many personal effect of the person who lives there, the person who is now staying in their house. But when Caroline starts to notice a few things that remind her of Carl and their affair, she starts to suspect that this holiday has been planned from someone else who is not her, someone who is now in her house. Is it Carl? If so, why is he contacting her after two years of silence? And what does he want?

The author masterly leads the reader through Caroline’s affair with Carl, her conflicting feelings both towards him and her husband, and her confusion and shock as she starts to figure out that there is something strange going on. I couldn’t put down the book as I wanted to read what really happened that made her affair with Carl end in a horrible way, what she is hiding, and I couldn’t wait to find out who is really the person staying in her house. I was also suspicious of Amber, the girl living next to their holiday house. She was always calling Caroline and knocking on her door and I kept asking myself: why is she so friendly? I was taken by surprise when the truth was revealed.

The novel is slow-paced and character-driven. It’s also a quick read, both because I couldn’t stop reading it but also because the narration flows easily and flawlessly. THE HOUSE SWAP is carefully plotted, brilliantly written, haunting, and immersive and I’d like to thank Poppy Stimpson, Thomas Hill, and Transworld Books for giving me the chance to read this book and to take part in the blog.

 

 

Rebecca Fleet lives and works in London. The House Swap is her first thriller.

 

Coal Diggers is one of the most watched reality shows on TV. Five women in their twenties and early thirties show to the world how they succeed in their businesses. It’s on its fourth season and only three of the original cast are still in the show, Brett, Jen, and Stephanie. Lauren came in the second season, while Kelly, Brett’s sister, started on the fourth, to her sister’s disappointment. It’s on this fourth season that things go really wrong because, as we learn from the first page, Brett was murdered. But what happened? How did these five women get to this point? Jessica Knoll takes us back in time and shows us how allegiances switch, jealousies rise, lies are told, and secrets are hidden.

I loved this book. I didn’t like any of the characters, but I really loved and enjoyed the book and its twisty and juicy plot. The story is told from different points of views: Kelly, Brett, and Stephanie, but you can’t trust these characters. I liked that these characters are unreliable because you never know who is telling the truth and there are many unexpected moments and revelations that took me by surprise. Since the story is told from different points of views, I found myself siding with Brett and then, after reading Stephanie’s side of the story, siding with her, and then switching over and over again. As I said I didn’t really like any of these characters because I found them selfish and self-centered, but I liked that they were strong, determined and driven and I was entertained by their machinations and lies.

At the center of the novel are women competing with each other to make it out alive of that jungle that is the reality show. I was surprised, and sometimes shocked, at the lengths these women would go to win the reality show. Even Brett and Kelly, sisters, business partners, and really close (at least at the beginning) grow apart and keep secrets from each other after Kelly becomes one of the protagonists of the show.

Liane Moriarty (of whom I am a big fan) meets Real Housewives in this compelling and vibrant novel and I would like to thank Pan Macmillan for providing me with an early copy of the book.

This is a gripping novel about friendship and obsession set in Cornwall in the summer of 1986 (with a few jumps to present time).

The story is told from many points of view. Firstly and mostly, from Tamsyn’s point of view, a 16-year-old girl living with her poor family in Cornwall. She spends her time spying with her binoculars on The Cliff House, the mansion belonging to the Davenports, a wealthy family from London. She is a loner, still grieving over her father’s death, who died when she was ten, and she finds happiness imagining of living in The Cliff House and being part of this seemingly perfect family. She sees her chance when she becomes friends with young Edie Davenport.

Edie Davenport’s life is far from perfect. Her mother is an alcoholic and her father is a famous writer who likes to flirt with women. They sent her to boarding school when she was eight years old. She travels around the world, she wears fashionable clothes, and she can have whatever she wants, but she feels unloved by her parents, so she got herself expelled from school. Although her friendship with Tamsyn is born out of boredom, Edie seems to care about her and she is also attracted to Tamsyn’s older brother, Jago.

Jago is a couple of years older than Tamsyn. He dropped out of school and went to work in the mine, but he has been jobless since this closed. He manages to bring home some money and get the odd job, but he feels a failure, especially towards his father, having promised to take care of the family.

Angie, Tamsyn and Jago’s mother, works as a cleaner for the Davenports, but she doesn’t trust them and becomes worried when the entire family seems to show an interest in Tamsyn. Also, she is worried about Jago, about their financial situation, and, like Tamsyn, she is still grieving over her husband’s death.

I didn’t really like the character of Tamsyn, but she is very well-portrayed by the author. She seems naïve and shy, but she is not that innocent. Her obsession with The Cliff House and the Davenports is at the centre of the story and make her a complex character, difficult to figure out.

“Here, at The Cliff House, the colours were exaggerated, the light brighter, the smells, the tastes and sounds richer.”

THE CLIFF HOUSE is very well-written and I found the author’s descriptions very evocative. The setting and some of the characters (the alcoholic and depressed wife, the womanizer famous author) reminded me of F. S. Fitzgerald’s novels.  The surprises are mostly at the end of the novel, but the tension is high throughout the entire novel, and I was never sure what to expect next.

THE CLIFF HOUSE is out on May 17^th and I’d like to thank HQ and HarperCollins for providing me with an early copy of this haunting and fascinating novel.

I really loved this novel. It is unique, a murder story whose protagonist is a young boy who sees the world in a different way from the rest of the world.

“I am glad I am not like most other teenage boys because I get to see the world in its full multi-coloured glory.”

Jasper is 13 years old. He lives with his father in a quiet street in Richmond. Jasper has synaesthesia, which means he sees sounds as colours. Also, he has prosopagnosia so he can’t recognise people’s faces. He spends his days painting, observing parakeets from his bedroom window, and keeping note of everything that happens in his neighbourhood.

“Bee Larkham’s murder was ice blue crystals with glittery edges and jagged, silver icicles.”

Bee Larkham is a young woman who just moved across the street. She is soon causing trouble in the neighbourhood with her loud music (which Jasper also loves) and the parakeets in her garden. Now the police wants to question her about her relationship with a 15-year-old boy, but she’s disappeared. Jasper knows what happened to her, but his memories are unclear so he goes through his notebooks to remember what really happened the night Bee disappeared.

I really felt for Jasper. The adults around Jasper don’t understand him. They think that because of his learning disabilities he doesn’t understand what is going on. But Jasper is a special boy, highly intelligent, and I did love this character. Since the story is told in first person from Jasper’s point of view, we can see Jasper struggling to express himself and, at times, it was actually painful to read (especially when he was bullied).

There are many emotional moments, I was especially moved by Jasper’s memories of his mother, who died when he was young, and he still remembers the cobalt blue of her voice and rubs one of her buttons every time he feels anxious or nervous. There is also some humour and irony, created by Jasper’s lack of sarcasm, that made me laugh.

The novel is brilliantly written and very well-researched. Jasper’s personality really drew me into the story and I found the entire novel intense and unforgettable. THE COLOUR OF BEE LARKHAM’S MURDER is out next week and I’d like to thank HarperCollins for providing me with an early copy of the book.