Time is a Killer - Michael Bussi

Description

It is summer 1989 and fifteen-year-old Clotilde is on holiday with her parents in Corsica. On a twisty mountain road, their car comes off at a curve and plunges into a ravine. Only Clotilde survives.

Twenty-seven years later, she returns to Corsica with her husband and their sulky teenage daughter. Clotilde wants the trip to do two things - to help exorcise her past, and to build a bridge between her and her daughter. But in the very place where she spent that summer all those years ago, she receives a letter. From her mother. As if she were still alive.

As fragments of memory come back, Clotilde begins to question the past. And yet it all seems impossible - she saw the corpses of her mother, her father, her brother. She has lived with their ghosts. But then who sent this letter - and why?

Review

The synopsis of this book really hooked me in, but when I began to read the book I struggled to stay with it. I found it very slow and boring for the most part. It is translated from French and I wondered if something had literally been lost in translation? Most of the sentences did not make sense to me - they read in a abstract way, perhaps it is the authors style? But I did not like it.

The book flips between 1989 and 2016 - although each era is labelled as such, I still felt disorientated at times as to which timeline I was reading about. Probably me - but I also brought forward in my minds eye the teenage Clotilde from 1989 into the present day and could not imagine her as a lawyer in 2016.

What I do like is a mystery and about half way through the book things began to get interesting enough for me to want to know the ending to this book. There were still long descriptive passages, which I did not think added to the story line, but several events kept me reading.

At one point I did think I had half guessed what had happened all those years ago in 1989 - and I was partly right but not for the reasons uncovered in the book. The last quarter of the book did live up to the promise from the synopsis but it was hard work getting to it.

I've always wanted to visit Corsica and I must say this book has made me want to do that even more as the descriptions of the island were one of the best parts of the book.

I am giving this book three out of five stars. My thanks to Netgalley for a copy of the book for review.

The Little Brooklyn Bakery - Julie Caplin

Description

When Sophie Bennings arrives in New York, love is the last thing on her mind. Still reeling from a painful break up, she throws herself into her work as a food editor on a top-notch magazine.

Columnist Todd McLennan is everything that Sophie wishes she didn’t want. Like the gorgeous bakery below her Brooklyn apartment, he’s as tempting as the sugary cupcakes on daily display. Surely a little of something you fancy can do you good?

As Sophie and Todd get to know one another, a love of food isn’t the only passion they share. In the city that never sleeps, has Sophie finally met the man of her dreams…?

Review

This is pure chick lit and I just loved it. I read it in a couple of sittings and couldn't wait to get back to it. Being set in New York was a winner right off for me, but the writing was so wonderful that I really felt I was there. Thank goodness for Google street view as I found myself looking up some of the locations in the book, including the Brooklyn Public Library - what a building! which I appreciated even more in the book when I had seen it for myself.

To me the dream location would be living in a flat above a friendly bakery such as this one. I just loved all the descriptions of the cakes and makes and the stories of those that made them. I thoroughly enjoyed Sophie moving into her flat and getting to know her way around. Not only does she live in Brooklyn, helps out in a cool bakery - she is a food writer for a magazine - just don't wake me up! I admit I lived vicariously through her in this book.

It is probably the raciest chick lit I have ever read! There are certainly some steamy scenes. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. It's out 25 May 2018 - make sure you get your copy!

A Grand Old Time - Judy Leigh

Description

A funny and heartwarming debut for fans of Rachel Joyce and Cathy Hopkins.

Evie Gallagher is regretting her hasty move into a Dublin care home. She may be seventy-five and recently widowed, but she’s absolutely not dead yet.

And so, one morning, while the rest of Sheldon Lodge is asleep, Evelyn walks out the front door and never looks back. So begins a road trip that will take Evie first to Liverpool, then on to Brittany, where she buys a camper van and heads south on a Great Adventure.

But not everyone thinks Great Adventures are appropriate for women of Evie’s age, least of all her son Brendan and his wife Maura, who set off in pursuit, following a trail of puzzling text messages.

But when Brendan and Maura finally catch up with Evie, there are shocks in store for all of them … because while Brendan may have given up on life and love, Evie Gallagher certainly has not.

Review

What an absolutely charming book this is. We meet Evie in Sheldon Lodge - a care home where she is unhappy. She makes a bid for freedom and what follows is a real rip tide of an adventure for anyone let alone a 75 year old. Don't get me wrong I don't think 75 is old but the life Evie has led has been a little sheltered and so for her to embark on any journey let alone one on her own is inspiring to say the least.

When Evie had a few knocks at the beginning I feared this was not going to be a good read, realistic yes, but not enjoyable. However, that soon changed and I was routing all the way for Evie in her camper van. Most of all I loved all the little white lies (well some big lies really) that she told all she encountered, police officers included - daring of her,  which I feel comes with age and nothing to lose.

Meanwhile Evie has a son Brendan and he has his own unhappy life - married to Maura and stuck in a job he doesn't love. He and his wife take off to rescue Evie and have their own adventure in the meantime, as they never quite manage to catch up to Evie's last location.

I loved the descriptive writing, it was a little escapism and at times with great sadness but I adored it all the same.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks go to Netgalley and Avon books for an advance copy for review.

Messing with Matilda - Cat Lavoie

Description

As a professional organizer in New York City, Matilda Hart wages war against chaos and clutter on a daily basis for her clients—and she vows to never let it invade her own well-ordered world.

But when her boyfriend decides to deviate from the path she’s been planning for them, Matilda's perfectly structured life begins to crumble. She reluctantly finds herself back in the tiny hometown she fled a lifetime ago—determined to lay low and avoid running into anyone she used to know. So why is she reconnecting with her former best friend and putting up with the bridezilla antics of Amber, her high school nemesis?

When Matilda is tasked with keeping the bride-to-be’s heartbroken ex away from the ceremony, she discovers she has history with the man who’s trying to sabotage the wedding. Matilda quickly realizes that teaming up with cute and quirky—but hopelessly devoted—Silas Flynn could be mutually beneficial. He needs help wooing the woman he considers the love of his life and Matilda can't pass up the chance to finally get back at the meanest of the mean girls by assisting Silas in his attempts to disrupt her wedding.

Will everything go according to plan for this mismatched pair? Or will working so closely together make uptight Matilda and laid-back Silas lose sight of their common goal?

One thing's for sure—things are about to get messy.

Review

This really is chick lit at it's best. I loved the fast paced narrative of this book. Cat Lavoie has a real knack of writing great dialogue with humour.

When we first meet Matilda she seems to have it all and is about to be proposed to - or so she hopes. But things rapidly change for her and her perfectly planned lifestyle spirals slowly out of her control.

It all happens in such a way that it was really easy to just go with the story line and get caught up in it along with Matilda. I read this book in just a couple of sittings as I really wanted to know how it would all pan out for Matilda.

It's a different take on romance with a bridezilla who was Matilda's high school bully thrown in for good measure and a lovesick ex who wants to recreate his past. I could see this being made into a film as it's such a great story.

My only tiny regret is that there weren't more references to Matilda carrying out her job as a professional organizer - as it was one of the reasons I was drawn to the book. However, I loved dipping into her life even when it became kind of crazy.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley and Karan & Co. Author Solutions for a copy of the book for review.

Letters to Iris - Elizabeth Noble

Description

A gloriously uplifting story about love in all its forms from the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of The Reading Group and Things I Want My Daughters to Know Tess has a secret - one which is going to turn her life upside down in just nine months' time. The only person she can confide in is her beloved grandmother. But Iris is slipping further away each day. Then chance brings a stranger into Tess's life. Gigi's heart goes out to Tess, knowing what it's like to feel alone. She's determined to show her that there's a silver lining to every cloud. As their unlikely friendship blossoms, Tess feels inspired to open up. But something still holds her back - until she discovers Iris has a secret of her own. A suitcase of letters from another time, the missing pieces of a life she never shared. Could the letters hold the answers that Tess thought lost for ever? An uplifting, unforgettable story about keeping secrets, taking chances and finding happiness where you least expect it. Praise for Elizabeth Noble 'A great writer. You'll be rooting for Noble's protagonists as soon as you meet them' Daily Mail 'Noble is the mistress of the tearjerking message of love' Express 'Deliciously readable' Times

Review

I found this book very slow to start and even slower to get to what I thought was going to be the mainstay of the book "The Letters to Iris". It wasn't until about a third of the way into the book we finally get to find out what the letters say. At one point I began to wonder if the author had forgotten the title of the book altogether.

The book divides it's storyline between Tess and Gigi. At first I couldn't understand how Gigi was going to fit into the storyline and it felt like two very different stories being told. However, Gigi was a character I grew to love in the book and I was more eager to find out her story than that of Tess.

A very sensitive book which explores lots of human emotions with care. The author is very adept at portraying the everyday mundane aspects of life but at times that got a little long winded. Unfortunately for me the book did not live up to my expectations as I was expecting more from the letters angle.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars and my thanks go to Netgalley for an advance copy for review.

Standard Deviation - Katherine Heiny

".

Description

Graham Cavanaugh’s second wife, Audra, is everything his first wife was not. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. She is charming and spontaneous and fun but life with her can be exhausting.

In the midst of the day-to-day difficulties and delights of marriage and raising a child with Asperger’s, his first wife, Elspeth, re enters Graham’s life. Former spouses are hard to categorize – are they friends, enemies, old flames, or just people who know you really, really well? Graham starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did he make the right choice? Is there a right choice?

Review

I was drawn into this book immediately - I just loved it from page one. The book as such has no plot, rather it ambles through the lives of Graham and Audra and all whom they come into contact with. Not forgetting also their son Matthew and those he interacts with too - especially the members of the Origami Club.

Maybe you feel already the book is not for you, and you may be right if you like a beginning, middle and end, rather than a peek into other people's lives. It's kind of like an extended sitcom episode where you just love all the characters and wish you could be there with them.Don't get me wrong plenty happens, but it's just life - however in the hands of Katherine Heiny it is laugh out loud funny.

The star of the book for me is Audra - and whilst you may think she is an empty bucket that makes the most noise, when you look deep down, as Graham her husband often does, you see that actually she's quite the strategist. Mainly to progress her son she forges bonds and unlikely friendships but there is also a very kind side to her demonstrated through the multitude of house guests invited to stay - and we aren't talking overnight here.

Audra also has some cracking lines such as  "...his employee discount to buy some scented candles and I told him he should buy one for Elspeth but he said she didn't believe in them. How can you not believe in scented candles? They're not like UFOs". I could quote so many more fantastic lines like that.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks go to Netgalley for a copy to review

Days of Wonder - Keith Stuart

Description

Tom, single father to Hannah, is the manager of a tiny local theatre. On the same day each year, he and its colourful cast of part-time actors have staged a fantastical production just for his little girl, a moment of magic to make her childhood unforgettable.

But there is another reason behind these annual shows: the very first production followed Hannah's diagnosis with a heart condition that both of them know will end her life early. And now, with Hannah a funny, tough girl of fifteen on the brink of adulthood, that time is coming.

With the theatre under threat of closure, Hannah and Tom have more than one fight on their hands to stop the stories ending. But maybe, just maybe, one final day of magic might just save them both.

A tale about growing up, the beauty of a special bond between father and daughter, and finding magic in everyday life, Days of Wonder is the most moving novel you'll read all year.

Review 

I wanted to read this book as I loved the first novel by Keith, A Boy Made of Blocks. Yet again Keith has not disappointed with this his second novel. I needed to brush away the tears to write this review. I was a little worried about reading on public transport as I thought I might cry. Why wouldn't you with a description containing the words  "Hannah's diagnosis with a heart condition that both of them know will end her life early". Fortunately I only gave way to tears at the end of the book in the safe confines of my home. 

The book is divided into Tom and Hannah each telling their version of events, both in the past and when the story is set. If I have one tiny criticism it is not knowing when in time the book is set. There is flipping back in the story to when Hannah is a little girl, but I had assumed wrongly that the present day was where the story was set. Then cultural references popped up such as dial up, Sugababes, Pop Idol and I began to realise that this was not the case. Just a personal thing but it began to bug me, as I wanted to place it in a time slot.  In the end I decided it was 2004 with the many references throughout the book. Edited to say that there is a cover page which states 2005! I must have quickly flipped past this on my kindle.

I settled into the story and it was a joy to read despite having a sad undertone. So many lovely characters and each with their own  back story, that it had a real community feel to it. What interesting lives too. Although they are all there to support Hannah, each of them also has their own private turmoil, which we get to know about as the book unfolds. There is also a lot of humour in the book which I loved. I think my favourite character was Margaret who at 81 is Hannah's closest friend and they have afternoon tea together.

I felt I knew each and every one of them by the end of the novel. There is something about the quality of Keith's writing that I can't describe, it's like no other author I have read. You feel like he's taken you by the hand and led you gently through other people's lives.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for an advance copy to review. Mark your diaries for the 7th June 2018 when it will be published.