Secrets in the Sky - out 26 February

 Summary

How far should you go to keep a secret?

No-one ever accused Sophie Campbell of being a coward. From caving trips to rooftop pranks, it appeared nothing could hold her back, especially once she landed a dream job promising travel all over the world.

But Sophie’s jet-setting lifestyle is not what it seems and she’s been spending more time in the quiet English village of Saffron Sweeting than she cares to admit. When her beloved Great Aunt Wol dies suddenly, Sophie loses one of the few people who truly know her. As friends, family and an old flame gather for the funeral, questions soon follow. Worse, Sophie finds herself increasingly attracted to the man most likely to expose her secrets. Can she manage to guard her past, yet finally follow her long-held dream?

Featuring both new and familiar characters, this stand-alone romantic comedy is set two years before Saving Saffron Sweeting. With side helpings of British tea, cake and wit, Secrets in the Sky explores how finding the courage to be yourself can be the toughest challenge of all.

Excerpt

Bella looks incredulous, but before she can respond, there’s a brisk knock at the front door.

Bugger, I think, who the hell’s that? Surely not someone trying to sell us solar panels in this weather? Bella’s busy concocting our dinner, so I gather myself and head for the door.

When I open it, I find a tall woman with wavy auburn hair standing with her back to me. She’s wearing a chic navy suit with a peplum jacket, which shows off curves like Jessica Rabbit.

Then she whirls around on one heel and proclaims, ‘At last! You’re the one sleeping in my husband’s bed!’

With that, she steps forward, and thrusts out a hand. Instinctively, I take a step back, but then notice her wide, mischievous smile.

‘I’m so pleased to meet you,’ she says. ‘I’m Amelia.’

I shake her hand cautiously. Her grip is enthusiastic and she’s wearing a huge cocktail ring which winks at me, despite the gloom outside.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say, apologising immediately for something I haven’t done. ‘But I’m not sleeping with your husband.’

But I’m really thinking: Joey – the scumbag – is he married and hasn’t told me?

‘No, darling, not with my husband. Just in his bed, right? And I should have said ex-husband.’

‘Umm…’ I’m still not getting it.

‘You’re house sitting, correct? For Michael Hargraves? You’re wearing his dressing gown, you know.’

Now I get it. Bella’s Uncle Mike. And this is his dressing gown? Ugh. I hope it’s been washed.

‘Well, I’m Amelia Hargraves. I own the estate agency in the village.’

‘Oh,’ I say. The penny drops. I’ve seen her occasionally in the post office and the baker’s, always dressed beautifully and talking in that deep, posh way. ‘Sorry. Yes. Would you like to come in?’

Amelia strides past me happily, not needing, of course, to be shown the way to the living room. I shuffle after her, making sure the belt of Mike’s dressing gown is tied securely.

Amelia’s standing in the middle of the room, head swivelling as she assesses her former home. Even though I am entirely blameless in the sleeping-with-the-husband department, I still feel awkward.

‘Where the bloody hell did that come from?’

She’s looking, of course, at Stanley, who opens both eyes, lifts one clawed foot off his perch and echoes ‘Bloody hell!’ at the top of his voice, adding ‘Feed me!’ for good measure.

‘He’s temporary,’ I say. Great. Now she’s taught Wol’s parrot how to swear. Some guardian I make.

Goodreads Link

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24691309-secrets-in-the-sky

Buy Links

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T5FK0II/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00T5FK0II/

Author Biography

British by birth, Pauline Wiles moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003. Apart from a yearning for afternoon tea and historic homes, she's never looked back.

Pauline’s writing has been published by House of Fifty, Open Exchange and Alfie Dog Fiction. Her debut novel, Saving Saffron Sweeting, reached the quarter final of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and was a number one Kindle Best Seller.

When not writing, she can be found getting the steps wrong in a Zumba class or calculating how many miles she has to run to justify an extra piece of cake. Her ambition is to sell enough books to cover the cost of flying herself and a reader to London for tea.

Social Networking Links

Website: http://www.paulinewiles.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6952501.Pauline_Wiles

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scribinglimey

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulinewiles

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/paulinewiles/

I'm currently reading this book - check back for my review later this week.

A Murder of Magpies - Judith Flanders

It’s just another day at the office for book editor Samantha Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will deliciously dish the dirt on the fashion industry. But little does she know how much trouble Kit’s book is about to cause. Before it even goes to print. When police inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins & Ross, asking questions about an undelivered package that was addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. The messenger sent to deliver the package was murdered, and then Kit goes missing. Suddenly, Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down and she is propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's scandalous manuscript published and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time, they'll do anything to stop it.

This is the first novel from Judith Flanders. I loved the great insight she provides into an otherwise largely unknown (for me) world of publishing. It’s so detailed because as I later found out she has a background in publishing, and so I now do feel that I gained some insight and not just what someone thinks happens.  I really enjoyed this aspect of the book along with the main character she has created, who I really grew to like, so much so that I would love her as a friend if she existed in real life.

Although the book is in essence a whodunit/murder mystery it is in my opinion a great story told very well. There’s also a little romance thrown in and a Mother who always knows best -  and can prove it being a lawyer.

There are a few side stories running also around the publishing theme and authors and I found this aspect particularly interesting.

A great read if you like a mystery with a twist and can identify with a 40 something would be lady sleuth. I'll certainly be looking out for more fiction by this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for supplying me with an advance e-copy of this book to review.

Here's looking at you - Mhairi Mcfarlane

Anna Alessi – history expert, possessor of a lot of hair and an occasionally filthy mouth – seeks nice man for intelligent conversation and Mills & Boon moments.

Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren't always this way, and her years spent as the ‘Italian Galleon’ of an East London comprehensive are ones she’d rather forget.

So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him?

This is my third Mhairi McFarlane book and it's from my personal shelf. I have to confess that after I read her first book "You had me at Hello" I was keeping this one - you know just in case there weren't any more! While I was saving it along came "It's not me It's you" for me to review so I saved it a little longer.

Most of what I said in my other review applies here - Mhairi is definitely a consistent writer so far. I won't be saying "oh, I liked the first book but then she went off a bit" - no definitely consistently good writing and consistently funny. 

Her social observations are just so amusing - one in particular stands out for me in this book- when they talk about the shame of someone using Google+ and who would be in your circles - very clever and true.

Yet again Mhairi triumphs in her use of language, thank goodness I read it on the Kindle as a few words I had to look up to find their meaning - so educational also.

The book cover blurb reads like a chick lit - but trust me it is so much more than that. The story line is wonderful and just when you think it's predictable - well it just isn't any more. There are some totally cringe worthy moments for Anna  - so well described that I felt her pain.

Now hurry up with that fourth book as I've read everything by this author now.

The Shock of the fall - Nathan Filer

‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’

Although I finished this book from my personal shelf a week or so ago I waited until today to publish my review to coincide with Time to Talk Day on 5 February. Just take 5 minutes out of your day tomorrow to talk about Mental Health, click through the link to find out more about the day.

It's not often I enjoy books that win awards, because they are usually trying to be too clever and they lose their message. This book is so different, it really has a message which is told by Matthew who is a young schizophrenic. 

The book is so insightful and I guess that comes from the author's time spent as a mental health nurse. You see the world through Matthew's eyes and it all makes sense - how he interprets the world and why to the rest of us it seems strange. 

Matthew has a real wit and his character is so likeable you really root for him and feel his setbacks as if they are your own. I recommend you read this book - it is sad in places but it is also so funny.

What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty

Alice is twenty-nine. She adores sleep, chocolate, and her ramshackle new house. She's newly engaged to the wonderful Nick and is pregnant with her first baby.

There's just one problem. All of that was ten years ago . .

Alice has slipped in a step-aerobics class, hit her head and lost a decade. Now she's a grown-up, bossy mother of three in the middle of a nasty divorce and her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her. This is her life but not as she knows it

Clearly Alice has made some terrible mistakes. Just how much can happen in a decade

Can she ever get back to the woman she used to be?

This is a book from personal shelf which I’m reviewing. I got this book because I was alerted by eReader on Facebook when it was at a good price. Today they have an alert on another Liane Moriarty book - The Last Anniversary for £1.19 - which I just downloaded :) 

I’ve never read any Liane Moriarty books before, but based on this one – I will be reading more in the future (now guaranteed!).

The premise of the book is that Alice has bumped her head aged 39, when she comes around she thinks she’s pregnant and aged 29.

For some reason I couldn’t get into my head that the book was set in Australia. The first reference being to the number to call for emergency services, but time and again I thought it was set in the USA, until the next reference popped up.  I’m probably just so used to reading a lot of books set in the USA.

What intrigued me most about this book is how the 29 year old Alice became the one everyone knew and seemed to hate in today’s world. How people had changed beyond recognition to her and that her own Mother was now married to her now ex-Father in law. There were also some great moments where Alice does not know about modern technology - what a “text” is for instance. At first I thought this was odd as it was only ten years ago, then I realised that the author had not set the book 10 years back from today.

One of the author’s devices for the dialogue was to use a blog written by Alice’s “Grandmother” which added a different and hilarious dimension to the book.

The other device used was to have a sub-story by Alice’s sister told through her “therapy” diary. This part of the book was actually quite sad, especially when Alice doesn’t remember what her sister has been through over the past 10 years. In fact I would say that this forms about half of the dialogue of the book and is far from a sub-story, touching on some very real issues.

Finally – imagine not remembering you had given birth to 3 children and not even knowing their names – a great plot for a book and one that will stay with me for some time.

The Girl in the Photograph - Kate Riordan

When Alice Eveleigh arrives at Fiercombe Manor during the long, languid summer of 1933, she finds a house steeped in mystery and brimming with secrets. Sadness permeates its empty rooms and the isolated valley seems crowded with ghosts, none more alluring than Elizabeth Stanton whose only traces remain in a few tantalisingly blurred photographs. Why will no one speak of her? What happened a generation ago to make her vanish?
As the sun beats down relentlessly, Alice becomes ever more determined to unearth the truth about the girl in the photograph - and stop her own life from becoming an eerie echo of Elizabeth's . . .

The book begins with a great insight into the social history of the 1930s with a young girl becoming pregnant whilst unmarried. It then continues in this vein with a glimpse of an old country estate in the 1930s told through Alice’s eyes, and in the late 1890s told through Elizabeth’s eyes.

I felt there was going to be a great story brewing – with all the deep meaningful silences from Edith the housekeeper and also Ruck the gardener who appears out of the blue in a menacing manner.

About half way through I started to lose interest, but kept going when suddenly there was a link to Alice’s grandmother and I thought it was going to have a real twist of a plot. Unfortunately for me the book then began to get loose ends tied up in convenient ways and the whole “mystical” element disappeared. We learn the big “secret” and although it is tragic, to a 21^st century mind it’s all rather tame.

I have to say that the writing itself is exquisite and this kept me going with the book, as I really felt a connection to Alice at least for the first half of the story. The book alternates between the 1930s and 1890s  although I found no confusion, as there can be with this kind of narrative, as to who was talking and when it was set. This was due to the clear demarcation within the book of the character headings.

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin Books (UK) for supplying a review copy of this book.