When I Was You - Amber Garza

 

Description

Two women. One life. They can't both have it.

Kelly Medina's son left for college a year ago and now she feels totally alone. So when she discovers that a single mother also called Kelly Medina has moved to her town, it's an unexpected reminder of the life she used to live.

For days, Kelly can't stop thinking about the woman who shares her name, who has a baby son she can still hold and her whole life ahead of her. She can't help looking for her: at the grocery store, at the gym, on social media. When they happen to bump into each other outside a pediatrician's office, simple curiosity gets the better of them both.

Their unlikely friendship brings Kelly a renewed sense of purpose. But the relationship quickly turns to obsession, and when one Kelly disappears the other one may know why . . .

Review

This one really reeled me in.

I wasn't sure where this book was going to begin with. Kelly Medina finds out that there is someone else new to town with the exact same name as her. Nothing seems amiss, no one has stolen her identity but Kelly can't let it lie, she has to know who shares her name.

I liked the original Kelly and her friend. Written in a nice easy style with the charm of believable everyday life the pages flew by. Once Kelly finds and meets the woman who shares her name we learn a little more about why her friend thinks it's a little odd and unbelievable. It's revealed that Kelly sees a therapist and maybe she's been down this road before.  I started second guessing myself what was happening.

Then part two of the book and "boom" a major twist. Everything was turned on it's head and I just had to keep reading on. It was certainly not what I had thought was happening.  I actually read this book over the course of a day - it was so good.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

The Reading List - Sara Nisha Adams

 

Description

A new chapter is just beginning…

‘The story is an absolute joy . . . A captivating and exquisitely crafted debut’ Sunday Times bestseller, Heidi Swain

‘Absolutely captures the magic of reading and libraries’ Louise Hare

When Aleisha discovers a crumpled reading list tucked into a tattered library book, it sparks an extraordinary journey.

From timeless stories of love and friendship to an epic journey across the Pacific Ocean with a boy and a tiger in a boat, the list opens a gateway to new and wonderful worlds – just when Aleisha needs an escape from her troubles at home.

And when widower Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to connect with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha introduces him to the magic of the reading list. An anxious teenager and a lonely grandfather forming an unlikely book club of two.

Review

A book about books - great for a book lover.

Aleisha works in the local library for the summer. It's a job she is enduring until she goes to Uni, she doesn't read non fiction. She's not very customer friendly either, until one day she finds a reading list. She begins to read the books on the list and she gains the ability to be able to recommend books, to one person in particular, Mukesh.

Mukesh misses his wife so much since she passed away. She was an avid book reader, something Mukesh never really understood. But when he finds an old library book his wife never returned he begins to read it. A whole new world is opened up to him in more ways than one.

Both Aleisha and Mukesh begin to see the power of books and help not only one another but those around them find ways to cope with life.

I wanted to love this book but it seemed to go so slow. The story wasn't really progressing, although I was enjoying the parts about the recommended books. Some of which although I knew of but I had never read, but that might change now. 

About two thirds into the book it began to change at a pace. Events which meant that things changed for the characters and the books they read beginning to make more sense. I was on a 3 star rating when unexpectedly the book made me cry and I saw the whole story for what it was. 

I am going to give the book 4 out of 5 stars because it did drag a little at first. A lovely gentle and insightful read. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

The Imperfect Art of Caring - Jessica Ryn

 

Happy publication day for The Imperfect Art of Caring (and Carers Rights Day).

One small act can make a big difference

Violet Strong is strong by name but not by nature, or so she thinks. She listens but never talks about herself. She’s friendly but doesn’t have many real friends. She’s become good at keeping people at a distance ever since she left home at eighteen and never looked back.

But when Violet is forced to return home to care for her estranged mother, Glenys, she quickly finds out that life as a carer isn’t easy. Feeling overwhelmed, she’s forced to turn to the other local carers, including childhood friend, Adam, for help.

Although returning home still feels like a mistake, maybe it will help Violet right some wrongs. After all, she can’t keep running from her past forever, and in learning to look after others, perhaps Violet can start to finally love herself…

Thank you to HQ stories for a copy of the book. I will be back w ith a review as soon as I've read it. In the meantime here is my pledge #onesmallact.

56 Days - Catherine Ryan Howard

 

Description

No one even knew they were together. Now one of them is dead.

56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.

35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who - and what - he really is.

TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.

Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?

Review

This book was just pure genius.

From word one this book had me on the wrong footing. I decided to play amateur sleuth and turn my assumptions on their head. This is much better I thought I've got the measure of this book. Except I really hadn't at all...

Ciara and Oliver have a chance meeting in a supermarket queue and strike up a conversation which leads to them dating. At first we read it as seen through the eyes of Ciara, but then the book reverts back to the same events, but this time told by Oliver. Not expecting this,  at first I didn't understand why the book was repeating events. Then it begins, maybe all is not as it seems when seen through the eyes of the other person.

Meanwhile we have the present day and the Detectives investigating the discovery of a decomposing body. The Detectives were great characters with their own little backstory and of course we get to see the story through their eyes too.  Initially the report of the body is ignored. As it is phoned through by someone who is constantly ringing to report people not observing the lockdown rules. Because, this is when the book is set, during beginning of Covid 19. 

The descriptions of life under lockdown were spot on. The deserted streets, the joy of an open shop, re-examining the current rules to figure out where and for how long you could go. It's also why Ciara moves in with Oliver even though they have only just met, after all who wants to be alone in a strange city?

About half way through the book I could not put it down and read it until the end. Once the truth dawned on me I started to figure out what had been happening. Not knowing that the author had led me to believe what I wanted to believe and so when the truth came out again, and again I was just left reeling by the ingenuity of the plot.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Readers First for this book.

The Cosy Cottage in Ireland - Julie Caplin

 

Description

The new standalone book in the internationally bestselling series!

Snuggle up in your favourite armchair and take a trip across the Irish sea for comfort food, cosy cottage nights and a heartwarming romance…

Talented lawyer Hannah Campbell is after a change in her workaholic Manchester life – so on an uncharacteristic whim she books herself a place at the world-renowned Killorgally Cookery School in County Kerry. But on her first night In Ireland, sampling the delights of Dublin, Hannah can’t resist falling for the charms of handsome stranger Conor. It’s only when Hannah arrives at her postcard-pretty home at Killorgally for the next six weeks that she discovers what happens in Dublin doesn’t quite stay in Dublin…

Nestled amongst rolling green hills and breathtaking countryside, the cookery school throws Hannah and Conor together again–for better or worse.

Review

I love this series of books and was delighted to find there was a new one. It can be read as a standalone read too. We don't get to meet any of the characters from previous books, except for Hannah's sister Mina, but she is in Switzerland (from the last book).

A lovely escapist read set in beautiful Ireland. It really made me hanker after Ireland and the beautiful scenery which is so well described. Lucky Hannah Campbell is a lawyer from Manchester who has enrolled on a six week cookery course there.

Before heading for County Kerry she stops off in Dublin where she decides to be a different Hannah for a change and leave the sensible lawyer behind. Once she heads to County Kerry she thinks she's left it all behind, only to discover the man she met in Dublin lives there too.

The description of the cookery school and the lessons was wonderful. It was just like being in the GBBO tent at times. I loved all the back stories of the students and the family that run the school. One of the things that is so great in Julie's books is the scene setting and this one was no exception. With the details of the beautiful cosy cottage and the food, also a coffee stout which sounded divine. I just wanted to be there.

There's a little bit of a mystery and some intrigue thrown into the mix, and of course there is a reason that the character of Hannah is a lawyer, which will come into play. As always there's a romance and it's a steamy one too.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

The Appeal - Janice Hallett

 

Description

ONE MURDER. FIFTEEN SUSPECTS.

CAN YOU UNCOVER THE TRUTH?

There is a mystery to solve in the sleepy town of Lower Lockwood. It starts with the arrival of two secretive newcomers, and ends with a tragic death. Roderick Tanner QC has assigned law students Charlotte and Femi to the case. Someone has already been sent to prison for murder, but he suspects that they are innocent. And that far darker secrets have yet to be revealed...

Throughout the amateur dramatics society's disastrous staging of All My Sons and the shady charity appeal for a little girl's medical treatment, the murderer hid in plain sight. The evidence is all there, waiting to be found. But will Charlotte and Femi solve the case? Will you?

The standout debut thriller of 2021 that delivers multiple brilliant twists, and will change the way you think about the modern crime novel.

Review

Very clever and certainly the new Agatha Christie.

This book consists entirely of emails, messages and post it notes. For the first half of the book we get to read page after page of this correspondence, with the two "law students" popping in every so often to converse with one another about what is happening. A lot of the time they don't have a clue as to what is going on, and that is reassuring as that was how I was feeling also.

As you can imagine the character depth is not there when we only get to read emails and messages amongst them. We get to build a sort of pen picture but there are far too many characters and apart from a few key players I could not retain who they all were. This may have been easier in a paperback rather than the kindle as there is a list of everyone at the beginning of the book.

Some of the emails seemed pointless, in fact one of the characters says in reply at one point, "why didn't you just ask me, you were stood right next to me a moment ago". Of course this is the mechanism of the book, but it got tiring for me.

Once we have all the evidence laid before us the two students begin to proffer theories about what has happened, and yet the reader is still in the dark as to what has happened. I began to lose interest at this point as theory after theory was expounded. 

I did guess part of what had happened it seems, but not all of it. This is where the author is indeed a successor to Agatha Christie. If you've read any of her books you will know what this means...

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. This book is from my own personal book shelf.

Ghosts - Dolly Alderton

 

Description

Everything gets easier in your thirties, right?

Though she has plenty to celebrate - successful career, new home, loving friends and family - for Nina Dean, her thirties have not exactly been the liberating experience she was sold. From fading friendships to exes popping the question, everyone is moving on (or worse, to the suburbs). And as her dad slowly loses his memories, her mum seems dead set on making new ones.

Then she meets Max, who tells her on date one that he's going to marry her. But what seems like an exciting new development will ensure this year is Nina's strangest yet . . .

Review

I wasn't interested in reading this book at all, but then the audio was on the library app, and I thought I would give it a go. Wow! Thank goodness I did, I would have missed this gem of a book.

Nina George Dean (named George for reasons that will be explained) had thought she was settled until she broke up with her ex and now she is on the look out for Mr Right again. She's still friends with her ex and he's definitely moved on, so now it's time for her to move on too. Set in 2018, Nina signs up to a dating website and then she finds Max who she begins a wonderful relationship with.

Meanwhile she has a best friend who she rarely sees these days, as she has a child and Nina doesn't. Is there anything left of their friendship now she's moving to Surrey? Her other friend, Lola, (who wouldn't be amiss in Ab Fab) is childless and is looking for the one too.She is full of sage advice and fun. A mad Italian neighbour who is causing her so much grief (her retaliation is wonderful) and her lovely Father who has dementia, but his wife is changing her name from Nancy to Mandy - that won't be confusing for him at all!

So much was relatable in this book despite my being way past my thirties and not having lived them in the recent past. I just loved all the characters, some more than others, but they all became so familiar to me that I'm missing them already. Very funny but at times so poignant that I got a tear in my eye. 

I listened to the audio version of this book which was narrated brilliantly. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to borrowbox and the local library.

The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder - Mary Jane Maffini

 

Description

Winner of the RT Reviewers Choice Award for Best Amateur Sleuth!

Professional organizer Charlotte Adams has to clean up a mess from the past to stop a killer in the present . . .

Given the number of times she’s dialed 911 in a panic, professional organizer Charlotte Adams is more than a little startled when she answers a distress call from the 911 operator herself. Mona’s calling to alert her that the “mean girls” who terrorized her in high school are back and that she wants to wring their necks. Charlotte writes off the threat as angry exaggeration—until a woman resembling one of the mean girls is killed and Mona goes into hiding.

Worried that some lingering trauma from being bullied may have sent her friend over the edge, Charlotte decides she’ll have to investigate the murder to find out who’s behind it. But then another mean girl is run down, and she’s certain that someone from the past is settling old scores. Desperate to learn whether Mona is making her revenge fantasies come true or if there’s a vindictive killer on the loose, Charlotte will have to sort through all the clues to save her friend—and maybe her own life . . .

Organizing Tips Included!

Review

The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder is the first book I have read by Mary Jane Maffini but this is #5 in a series.

Charlotte is a woman after my own heart, she is an organiser and that is one of the things that drew me to this book. There's even organising tips and a recipe in this book together with a lovely cover showing the two sweet dogs that Charlotte owns.

It appears as well as being a professional organiser Charlotte is somewhat of a sleuth. The book begins with Charlotte receiving a call from 911 - yes receiving.! Turns out that one of her old school friends Mona who is now a 911 operator has spotted a mean girl from their school days and proclaims that she wants to murder her. When someone who looks like the school bully turns up dead Charlotte begins to wonder if Mona has made good on her threat.

This book stands alone, but I felt I did miss out on how she is perceived in her home town by what has gone before in the previous stories. The characters took a little warming to also, because they were all new to me. Of course I enjoyed the organising parts of the book and there is even a little romance thrown into the mix too.

I liked this book but I didn't love it, so I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.