Scavenger Girl: Season of Zoetica by Jennifer Arnston (Scavenger Girl #5)

Synopsis:

Haunted by her past and unsure of her future, Una slowly realizes not everything is as it appears. Disenchanted with plans and progress, her attempts to do what’s right while keeping those near her safe, continue to fail. When a battle outside the gates of the Resistance leaves them vulnerable to the encroaching world, Una learns the true cost of war and the reality of what lies ahead. Frustrated with the Council, and struggling to control the battle within her own spirit, her grip on humanity slips and the beast within grows stronger. After losing control one too many times, Una flees far from her friends and family in an attempt to protect them from the single greatest threat to their survival...her.

Review:

Scavenger girl has been such a rollercoaster of a series and I cannot believe this is over. And I am kind of hoping it's not especially after reading this final season and being left wondering with that surprise ending.

Una has grown so much already but life has even more to throw her way in Season of Zoetica - no human being should have to be put through so much but Una manages to come out fighting. Although she nearly loses herself in all the turmoil, pain and heartache, Una still manages to pull herself through and fight for her family, her children and all of Ashlund, to bring down the terrible rule of her Uncle Reinik.

This series is full of characters I loved, there isn't one person who didn't fit the story or wasn't needed to carry on with Una's journey through life. Her love for Calish, Hope, Marsh and her children is at the centre of all she does and all she feels and is what saves her soul every time she's about to lose it and give up. She is an incredible heroine, who is allowed to make mistakes as all humans do and learn from them.

I must admit I was slightly taken aback by the ending. It left the story somehow untold and I just need more, if just for Una's sake.

Fabulous read, massive thanks to Jennifer for allowing me to be part of Una's journey. It's been fantastic.

My rating: 5/5

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Family Way by Tony Parsons

Synopsis:

It should be the most natural thing in the world. But in Tony Parsons’ latest bestseller, three couples discover that Mother Nature can be one hell of a bitch.

Paulo loves Jessica. He thinks that together they are complete – a family of two.
But Jessica can't be happy until she has a baby, and the baby stubbornly refuses to come. Can a man and a woman ever really be a family of two?

Megan doesn't love her boyfriend anymore. After a one-night stand with an Australian beach bum, she finds that even a trainee doctor can slip up on the family planning.
Should you bring a child into the world if you don't love its father?

Cat loves her life. After bringing up her two youngest sisters, all she craves is freedom. Her older boyfriend has done the family thing before and is in no rush to do it all again. But can a modern woman really find true happiness without ever being in the family way?

Three sisters. Three couples. Two pregnancies. Six men and women struggling with love, sex, fertility and the meaning of family.

Review:

Another brilliant book from my own collection. This has been on there for years and I remember actually getting this through BookMooch website, which I used alongside Read It Swap It.

I have never read books by Tony Parsons but I will do now. This is a very truthful, poignant story of three sisters, abandoned by their own mother and left in care of eldest sister Cat, who was only twelve at the time. It is a story of their own need for a family unit and realisation that their ideas of family might not be how life will eventually play out.

Cat has a successful job, older boyfriend who doesn’t want children. Meghan is in her last year of medicine before being qualified as a GP and Jessica is happily married and seems to have it all. Except the baby she is longing to bring into the world.

Their worlds and relationships start falling apart when Meghan finds out she is pregnant. After a one night stand. All three sisters find that they have some growing up to do, facing their past and looking into the future and what they want it to look like.

It’s a brilliant, real-life-like story and as a mum I found it very touching and emotional.

Rating: 5/5

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Blackstone Key by Rose Melikan (Mary Finch #1)

Synopsis:

1795, and a young woman called Mary Finch travels in haste from Cambridge to the Suffolk coast. She has been invited to meet her wealthy uncle - and so end a twenty-year estrangement. But before she reaches her destination she discovers a dying man on the road. He is a stranger, and yet he is carrying an oddly familiar watch bearing her uncle's initials. He also seems to know who Mary is, and hints that she is in terrible danger.

His whispered warning soon exposes Mary to a ruthless conspiracy that threatens not only her family's reputation, but her very life. Far from home, Mary must learn quickly how to distinguish friend from foe. Can she trust the two men who want to help her?

What is their interest in the mysterious Blackstone Key? Does it guard a secret treasure, or might it have a more sinister purpose...?

The first in an exciting new mystery series, The Blackstone Key is a gripping and vivid historical adventure that will appeal to fans of such classic tales as Jamaica Inn.

Review:

This has been on my bookshelves for years as my physical books tent to be slightly forgotten whilst I get busy with e-books. However, I do still love holding a ‘proper’ book and the ability to turn pages and smell the paper. Therefore, I delved into my vast TBR collection and came out with The Blackstone Key.

This was a treat. First in a trilogy, but really stands out well as its own book. The main heroine, Miss Mary Finch, finds herself entangled in a spy and smuggler mystery well suited for the end of 18^th century Suffolk, when the French were at war and the threat of invasion was imminent.

Mary travels to Suffolk to finally meet her estranged uncle, when she comes upon a dying man. This one terrible incident sets into motion a whole lot of other mysterious events and brings together a group of unlikely characters. It is up to Mary to work out whom to trust – is it the poor Captain Holland or the dashing Mr Deprez.

This is a proper historical mystery, with great twists and turns. Characters are well defined and reader is left guessing the truth until the very end. Fabulous book.

Rating: 5/5

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1)

Synopsis:

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

Review:

Once in a while, there is a book that takes your breath away and does not give it back until the last word on the last page. This is one of those books. I could count on fingers of one hand the books that I know I will want to re-read sometime in the future and this one is on the list. It makes me want to go the Barcelona and explore the streets and alleyways that Daniel explored whilst looking for Julian’s past.

Daniel is a very young, motherless boy, when his bookshop owner father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. That visit changes his life, and all those around him, forever. Daniel is allowed to take one book home and that book is The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. He devours the book that same night and it leaves in him hunger for more, but mainly it pushes Daniel on the path of finding out everything he could about Julian Carax.

Throughout the treacherous journey of discovery, Daniel makes friends (I absolutely love Fermin – what a character!), enemies and finds love where he least expects it. In the end Daniel’s own story is not that much different from Julian’s own life. The are great differences between the two men, but some things are pulling them together.

I am in love with this book and just sorry it took me so long to pick it off my bookshelf and read. The setting is stunning, descriptions of places have just the right amount of details, characters are believable and more importantly likeable. Daniel’s father, his best friend Fermin, Tomas, Clara and Bea – they are all captured perfectly into Daniel’s story. Just bravo – this is perfect.

Rating: 5/5

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark

Synopsis:

Elizabeth Pringle lived all her long life on the Scottish island of Arran. But did anyone really know her? In her will she leaves her beloved house, Holmlea, to a stranger - a young mother she'd seen pushing a pram down the road over thirty years ago.

It now falls to Martha, once the baby in that pram, to answer the question: why? Martha is coping with her mother's dementia and the possibility of a new life on Arran could be a new start.

Review:

This lovely novel was passed to me from my mum-in-law who, like me, enjoys a good book and reads quite a lot. I remember her telling me about this book whilst she was reading it and what a great story it was so I had to see for myself.

The book is written in the form of two main characters, each chapter either written from the life of Elizabeth or Martha. As the story grows, so do the characters and little by little the reader discovers how closely the lives of these two women are linked.

Book starts with Elizabeth’s death and her strange bequest to Martha’s mother Anna. She leaves her beautiful house Holmlea and all her belongings to Anna, who expressed her love for the place years ago whilst on holiday on the island of Arran. Elizabeth remembers Anna walking past the house with a little girl in a pram and the bond that was clearly between the mother and daughter.

However, the little girl Martha is all grown up and dealing with Anna’s progressing dementia. Anna is losing her memories fast so Martha decides to investigate the house herself.

From here the story develops into a journey of new friendships, love and mystery surrounding Elizabeth’s life. Elizabeth and Martha have a lot in common and would clearly get on well, have they known each other.

It’s an emotional story, with some unexpected turns that shown the true cost of real love and friendship and how important they are to have in life.

Rating: 5/5

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Synopsis:

Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She has been hired by the super rich Gopniks—Leonard and his unhappy, much younger second wife, Agnes—and finds herself amid a never-ending array of household staff and hangers-on. But Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her job and this very privileged New York life. 

As Lou tries to keep the two sides of her world together, she finds herself carrying secrets—not all her own—that cause a catastrophic change in her circumstances. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you reconcile a heart that lives in two places?

Review:

Bravo Jojo Moyes - you have done it again. You made me laugh, you brought tears to my eyes and you made me completely immerse myself in Lou's life again.

Please can we have more? Although this book finished just as it should have, I don't feel like I am ready to say goodbye to Lou yet. She is probably one of my favourite book characters ever.

Lou's word is turned on its head again when she takes a personal assistant job in New York for a very highly established family living in Central Park - to call this all a culture shock would be an understatement. But in her own style, Lou gets on with it and become the best she could be even through her own personal and professional turmoil. She makes friends in the most unexpected places and makes herself at home just when she is least expecting it.

She makes New York her own and deals with everything one day at a time, just like Will would have wanted her to.

Yes ‘After You’ was a little slower, but it has set the scene up beautifully for this third book and without it, her story would flow as well as it does.

Jojo Moyes is in my top five writers, there is not one book of hers that I haven't enjoyed. Just keep on writing please.

Rating: 5/5

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Third Rule (Eddie Collins #1) by Andrew Barrett

Synopsis:

When you're accused of murder, you'd better hide, run, or fight.

The Third Rule is England's new infallible capital punishment. But absolute proof of guilt is no longer required, so there’s a queue at the Slaughter House doors.
CSI Eddie Collins hasn't killed anyone, but he knows who has. That’s why he’s on the Slaughter House list, and when a government hunter tracks him down, Eddie has to fight or die.

“If you want to kill serious crime, you have to kill serious criminals.”
Sir George Deacon, Minster of Justice.

My review:

This is the first in Eddie Collins series and what a start. I have actually already had the pleasure to meet Eddie in Ledston Luck and actually liked his unlikable character. But The Third Rule has given me a fab insight into why Eddie can be such an ungentlemanly character.

At first I was confused and slightly afraid of the amount of characters that were being thrown at me for the first quarter of the book, but Andy has a great way of marrying up the story of each and every person and it all just slots together beautifully.

The overarching theme of this novel is the idea of ultimate punishment. The Rules should provide the country with a legal way of cleansing society of dark characters that are not allowing the ‘normal’ law-abiding members of public to live their lives to the full as they hide behind closed doors afraid of being burgled, attacked, killed etc. On the surface, the idea is excellent. You commit a crime; you get rule one. You recommit, you get rule three. And well, if that doesn’t stop you then the bullet of rule three will.

However, what happens when the rules are used for someone’s own gain of power. Let’s say a police officer just wants that promotion and will convict the easy target for a quick conviction, even though the evidence points the other way. Or if a high-power politician uses the rules to cover up tracks from his own crimes.

It’s a superb question of morals and it’s so well written, it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time you read it. Eddie is a very unlikely hero and that’s what’s most attractive about him, because underneath all the darkness, he is a good, fair character that will do anything to stop injustice.

My rating: 5/5

Available to purchase from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Other Half Lives (Culver Valley Crime) by Sophie Hannah

Synopsis:

Ruth Bussey knows what it means to be in the wrong - and to be wronged. She once did something she regrets, and was punished excessively for it. Now Ruth is trying to rebuild her life and has found a love she doesn't believe she deserves. Aidan Seed is a passionate, intense man who has also been damaged by his past. Desperate to connect with the woman he loves, he confides his secret: he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. Through her shock, Ruth recognises the name. And when she's realised why it's familiar, her fear and revulsion deepen. The Mary Trelease that Ruth knows is very much alive...

My review:

From time to time I go back to my own library of paperbacks I have collected over the years and pick out a real cracker. And this was definitely one of them. Second novel by Sophie Hannah that I have had the pleasure to read and happy to say there are another three on my shelves that I can look forward to reading.

Sophie has a real talent in getting the reader involved in the story, not giving anything away until the last few pages and letting you get completely engrossed in the lives of all the characters.

When Ruth turns up at the police station to see Charlie Zaylor, she has no idea that this one step will start an avalanche of events that will change her live and the lives of all of those she loves. The man she loves told her that he killed a woman called Mary Trelease. But to Ruth that’s not the problem. The problem is that she know the woman and she is very much alive.

From there on things spiral very quickly and events from decades ago have to be brought up to surface in order to understand the present. The characters have a real live to them which forces the reader to experience their emotions and have a proper relationship and involvement with the story.

Fabulous book, a proper page-turner.

My rating: 5/5

Available to purchase from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Haunting of Highdown Hall (Psychic Surveys #1) by Shani Struthers

Synopsis:

"Good morning, Psychic Surveys. How can I help?"

The latest in a long line of psychically-gifted females, Ruby Davis can see through the veil that separates this world and the next, helping grounded souls to move towards the light - or 'home' as Ruby calls it. Not just a job for Ruby, it's a crusade and one she wants to bring to the High Street. Psychic Surveys is born. 

Based in Lewes, East Sussex, Ruby and her team of freelance psychics have been kept busy of late. Specialising in domestic cases, their solid reputation is spreading - it's not just the dead that can rest in peace but the living too. All is threatened when Ruby receives a call from the irate new owner of Highdown Hall. Film star Cynthia Hart is still in residence, despite having died in 1958. 

Winter deepens and so does the mystery surrounding Cynthia. She insists the devil is blocking her path to the light long after Psychic Surveys have 'disproved' it. Investigating her apparently unblemished background, Ruby is pulled further and further into Cynthia's world and the darkness that now inhabits it. 

For the first time in her career, Ruby's deepest beliefs are challenged. Does evil truly exist? And if so, is it the most relentless force of all?

My review:

I have already read the newest novel featuring Psychic Surveys with Ruby Davies, Theo, Ness and Corinna. However this is the first book in the series and it introduces the team to the readers. Psychic Surveys is a small business created with customers and spirits in mind. Ruby and her team of psychics work hard to help spirits find their way to the light and cross over to the other side.

As business is picking up and Ruby meets the web designer Cash (who sounds rather dashing), the company receives a call from Highdown Hall. An angry spirit of a high profile 1950s actress Cynthia Hart still resides in the mansion, taking over the first floor rooms and not letting anyone anywhere close, which unsurprisingly doesn’t go down well with the new owner.

The team get tangled up in Cynthia’s very secretive personal live and realise very early on that to help her move on, they will first need to uncover the exact events that eventually led to her untimely death. She is angry and hurt, but above all she seems to be petrified.

I love Ruby and her team and Cash seems to just slot in perfectly too. Ruby has such a beautiful, forgiving outlook on life and all people living and dead. She definitely meets her match at Highdown Hall, but she never leaves an unhappy spirit behind and works hard to help everyone to get where they need to get to.

My rating: 5/5

Available to purchase from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne

Synopsis:

A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity – that she, in fact, is Lydia – their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past – what really happened on that fateful day one of her daughters died?

My review:

The Ice Twins was my introduction into the world of author S.K. Tremayne. And what an experience this was. I don’t think my breathing has slowed down yet and I feel like I need to be looking over my shoulder. I might even start hating the dark again.

The novel starts innocently enough with the bereaved Moorcroft family of mum Sarah, dad Angus and their surviving twin Kirstie, preparing to move from London to an isolated little island in the Hebrides. It looks beautiful, will solve their financial trouble and just maybe it will give them the fresh start they all need. They have lost nearly everything since the death of Kirstie’s identical twin sister Lydia, but this move could bring them closer and forget about the past as much as they could.

But past doesn’t stay in one place. You carry it on your shoulder and it jumps out of the shadows when you least expecting it. Both Sarah and Angus are grieving. They are also full of distrust and anger towards each other and the one person suffering the most is Kirstie, which becomes obvious when she tells her mum that she is not Kirstie, she is Lydia and that Kirstie is dead. This sparks a massive snowball effect of bad decisions, more secrets and events that this little family just cannot survive.

I was on the edge of my seat. I had half of the book still to read last night but I had to finish it there and then. I couldn’t go another day without knowing how this would end and what really did happen.

Fabulous book and I am most definitely looking forward to reading more by this author. If you are looking for a psychological thriller that will keep you up at night and that gives nothing away until the last few pages, then this is for you.

My rating: 5/5

Available to purchase from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Shining by Stephen King

Synopsis:

Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

My review:

I’ve had Stephen King’s books on my shelves for years. First I picked up Salem’s Lot and loved it, even though it scared me so I couldn’t sleep for three nights. Misery was next and again loved the book, although I had to stop reading couple of times for all the gory details King is so good at. Rosie Madder was a slight disappointment for me - a little too strange an ending, but still a brilliant book to read.

And now - The Shining. For me it’s gone straight to the top. It’s a brilliant book. It has a fascinating back story for all the characters, their relationships and all the things and mistakes that lead them to such a fabulous finale in the book.

The characters developed throughout the story with some surprising outcomes and not the way I felt they were going. The suspense is typical for King’s work, his very suggestive, psychological way of getting you to the edge of your seat and holding your breath.

This is horror, but intelligent horror. It helps you create your own picture in your head and guess at what’s going to happen and then it takes that idea and twists it around.

I am happy to say that I have not watched the movie before I read the book. Once I finished the book I excitedly put the film on wondering how the special effects needed for the story would have been done in 1980. And I was disappointed and bored. None of the back story filtered into the script and details that really helped characters in the book develop into who there really were, were changed (for example Jack’s meeting with the Hotel Manager Ullman – in the book they clearly can’t stand each other, whereas in the film they are best pals). I felt that the movie was purely based on the scare factor of good old fashioned suspense music and dark things waiting around the corner. Also both Danny and Wendy were made to look quite dumb, which is the opposite of how they are portrayed in the book.

So my advice is that even if you have already seen the film, please read the book. You might have loved the film already, but I can guarantee that the book will blow your mind.

My rating: 5/5

After Anna by Alex Lake

Synopsis:

A bone-chilling psychological thriller that will suit fans of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Daughter by Jane Shemilt, and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. 

A girl is missing. Five years old, taken from outside her school. She has vanished, traceless. The police are at a loss; her parents are beyond grief. Their daughter is lost forever, perhaps dead, perhaps enslaved. But the biggest mystery is yet to come: one week after she was abducted, their daughter is returned. She has no memory of where she has been. And this, for her mother, is just the beginning of the nightmare.

My review:

Once in a while I still like to get to my printed books. I have over three hundred at home and there are some real crackers amongst them. This was most certainly one of them. I bought this book because I liked the cover - impulse buy, some might call it, but I also read the blurb and thought it sounded good. My son is five so it felt quite close to home.

It’s fabulous. It reminds me of Little House by Philippa Gregory - the overbearing mother-in-law, the mummy’s boy husband, the strange goings on.

The novel is written in two ways with some short chapters written in first person that is kind of supporting the perpetrator and eggs him on. The rest is written in third person and it seems to work very well as you get know a lot about the main characters Julia and her husband Bryan and of course the strained dynamic of their relationship, but you are also somehow allowed a first seat row in the mind of the kidnapper.

It’s clever, with good little twists. I kind of guessed what was going on about third of the way through, however I still enjoyed the book till its last page. And I had to finish the last 100 pages in one sitting meaning much less sleep last night. But it was worth it.

If you like clever psychological thrillers than this is for you. I can highly recommend this book and it will be one to stay with me.

My rating: 5/5

Author’s Twitter: @Alexlakeauthor

Available to purchase from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart

Synopsis:

Well hello to you dear browser. Now I have your attention it would be rude if I didn't tell you a little about my literary feast. So, here is the thing: is it just me or does anyone else find that adulthood offers no refuge from the unexpected horrors, peculiar lack of physical coordination and sometimes unexplained nudity, that accompanied childhood and adolescence? 

Does everybody struggle with the hazards that accompany, say, sitting elegantly on a bar stool; using chopsticks; pretending to understand the bank crisis; pedicures - surely it's plain wrong for a stranger to fondle your feet? Or is it just me? 

I am proud to say I have a wealth of awkward experiences - from school days to life as an office temp - and here I offer my 18-year-old self (and I hope you too dear reader) some much needed caution and guidance on how to navigate life's rocky path. 

Because frankly where is the manual? The much needed manual to life. Well, fret not, for this is my attempt at one and let's call it, because it's fun, a Miran-ual. I thank you.

My review:

Miranda Hart has managed to put a much needed smile on my face and actually made me laugh out loud in public.

I am a big fan of her comedy sketch show ‘Miranda’ and I do miss it terribly. She has a very natural sense of humour that appeals to all sorts of different walks of life.

In this book, Miranda picks on various subjects from everyday live including dating, weddings, diets etc. She also talks to her 18 year old self and illustrates really well how differently we feel at that age and how different reality looks when we grow up and have responsibilities.

I must admit that I enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the second half. As I was reading I could see Miranda and hear the words in my head being said in her voice. Then the book just kind of slowed down for me, hence the three stars.

I still enjoyed it though. It’s a brilliant holiday read, or something you pick up when you need a lift after a bad day at work, just to make sure that there really are people with the same trouble as you.

My rating: 3/5

Author’s website: http://mirandahart.com/

Available to purchase from:

Amazon UK 

Amazon US