First Touch (First and Last #1) by Laurelin Paige

Synopsis from Amazon:

When Emily Wayborn goes home to visit her mom while on hiatus from her hit TV show, she receives a voicemail from her former best friend, Amber. Though the two were once notorious party girls, they haven't spoken in years. Although the message might sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily recognizes, a word they always used to get out of sticky situations during their wild days. And what's more chilling than the voicemail: it turns out that Amber has gone missing.

Determined to track down her friend, Emily follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady dealings and play boy reputation. Now, in order to find Amber, Emily must seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and discover the whereabouts of her friend. But as she finds herself more entangled with him, she finds she's drawn to Reeve for more than just his connection to Amber, despite her growing fear that he may be the enemy. When she's forced to choose where her loyalty lies, how will she decide between saving Amber and saving her heart?

My review:

This book was a slower starter for me, but characters were good and quite likeable and I am glad I stuck to it, as it turned out to be an enjoyable read.

Yes it’s a little dirty and some scenes might be uncomfortable for some to read, but it goes with the story and describes very well just how messed up the heroine of the book, Emily, really is. 

I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Emily, she’s certainly had it rough and although the most important thing for her with regards to having people close to her, is trust, she does even trust herself. She has a self-destroy button that’s permanently pressed and unless someone watches out for her she knows she won’t last very long.

She meets Reeve under the pretense of seeking a relationship with him, whilst she investigates his relationship with Emily’s lost friend Amber. But of course she falls in love – now this is never actually said in the book, but it’s pretty obvious and you don’t have to read between the lines. And Reeve feels the same, although he would never admit it either. They are both danger to themselves and to each other but that is what their relationship is based on.

Just as they finally understand each other and Reeve, in a round bout way, reveals that he knows who Emily is and that he loves her, Amber appear and the book is left on a cliff-hanger.

I thought I would hate Reeve and Emily. They are both such unlikely people to like, but I was rooting for them throughout the book. As they both reveal some of their past, especially the life Emily has led, you just have to like them as they really are perfect for each other.

This is not a classic love story and by no means finished. I cannot wait to read the sequel. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for access to this book in return for this honest review.

My rating: 4/5

Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh

Synopsis from Amazon:

Mikey was born into a Romany Gypsy family. They live in a closeted community, and little is known about their way of life. After centuries of persecution Gypsies are wary of outsiders and if you choose to leave you can never come back.

This is something Mikey knows only too well. Growing up, he rarely went to school, and seldom mixed with non-Gypsies. The caravan and camp were his world.

But although Mikey inherited a vibrant and loyal culture his family’s legacy was bittersweet with a hidden history of grief and abuse.

Eventually Mikey was forced to make an agonising decision – to stay and keep secrets, or escape and find somewhere he could truly belong.

My review:

This book was certainly a big eye opener. We all have our own thoughts on the life of Romany Gypsies, but I wasn’t expecting this.

Life of crime, fights, rules and traditions that we would describe was a life of misery and abuse and it was a life was that Mikey (as I am sure a lots of Gypsy children) endured since a very young age.

Born into a family of fighting champions, he failed his father miserably by being a mother’s boy that didn’t stand a chance in any fight. However that does not save him from daily abuse in the hands of his own father who is determined to make a fighter out of him even if it kills him – literary.

Mikey described his relationships with siblings, friends and family members and you do wonder how such a close family allows such harsh environment for their children and women. Domestic violence is a daily occurrence and nobody seems to be spared.

Mikey goes through some terrible things right from his childhood and how he managed to survive is beyond me. Somehow his spirit stayed strong and he clings to that.

This is quite an inspiring book and it was interesting to be given the insight into the life of a Gypsy family whatever the discomfort it gave me reading some of those lines. Well done to Mikey Walsh for coming out and standing up to the abuse he has endured. This is a well written account, the language flows very well and keep the reader going right from the start to the last page of the book.

My rating: 5/5

Black Widow (Jack Parlabane #7) by Chris Brookmyre

Synopsis from Amazon:

There is no perfect marriage. There is no perfect murder.

Diana Jager is clever, strong and successful, a skilled surgeon and fierce campaigner via her blog about sexism. Yet it takes only hours for her life to crumble when her personal details are released on the internet as revenge for her writing.

Then she meets Peter. He's kind, generous, and knows nothing about her past: the second chance she's been waiting for. Within six months, they are married. Within six more, Peter is dead in a road accident, a nightmare end to their fairy-tale romance.

But Peter's sister Lucy doesn't believe in fairy-tales, and tasks maverick reporter Jack Parlabane with discovering the dark truth behind the woman the media is calling Black Widow.

My review:

Well this was a storm of a book for me and a fantastic read.

Although this book is the seventh in Jack Parlabane series, it read well on its own and was a brilliant introduction into the author’s works.  I will most certainly look out for more.

This drama/thriller/crime novel is an intelligent piece of work and has twists and turns throughout.  Just as you start really disliking one character, you find out more about them and like them again.

Diana seems like the perfect suspect for a murder. Her husband Peter thought of as the poor man that married the coldhearted carrier woman nobody else would want. But the knock on the door one morning changes their lives forever.

Jack Parlabane is a disgraced reporter living in shame and not much work to do, when the story of Peter’s accident and disappearance is brought to him by no other than Peter’s sister Lucy.  She comes across as a loving family member with true cause for worry about the marriage and relationship between her brother and his wife.

But nothing is what it seems and as Jack scratches surface after surface he gets deeper into the lives of all involved and realises that everyone has secrets and that a long planned masterplan is in motion.

I cannot express in words how much I enjoyed this book. It is clever, keeps you on the edge and changes your mind with every new piece of information it gives you.  Characters are likable and believable and overall this book just shows how complicated relationships and lives actually are.

For me this was a fantastic introduction to the works of Chris Brookmyre and I thank the author and NetGalley for access to this book in return for an honest review.

My rating: 5/5