The Dark path (You Were Made For This) - Michelle Sacks

Description

A bold, sharp, gripping debut about a couple whose perfect life in the Swedish countryside is not what it seems…

In an idyllic house in a Swedish wood, Merry and her husband are building their new dream life with their young baby, far away from events that overshadowed their old life in New York. And they’re happy, aren’t they? Blissfully, blissfully happy.

When Merry’s childhood friend Frank comes to stay, Frank barely recognises her old friend Merry, pureeing baby food, baking, living the Swedish dream. But little by little, cracks begin to show in her carefully constructed fairy tale. And Frank starts to see things others might miss. Dark and treacherous things.

And then a terrible tragedy unfolds…

Review

I should have seen the warning signs in the blurb when it said "Dark and treacherous things" but I really wasn't prepared for how disturbing this book is. It will depend on your own sense of the world and the fact that it is only a book - but for me it was a very difficult read in parts. I found myself gasping out - "no, no" so on that level the author has written a good book to invoke such reactions from me.

The story begins quiet, calmly, and all seems well with the world. Little by little it begins to twist and turn and eventually it all comes crashing down. If that wasn't enough there are still some twists the author has to reveal to the reader.

I hated all of the characters - I didn't warm to any of them. They were all so self absorbed and each in their own way controlling of others. Again the author has written them well to evoke this reaction in me. But did I want to read about them, or enjoy reading about them, maybe not. What I had to know though was what was going to happen and when it did - who did it!

A very different read for me and one that at times I did not relish - a story I am sure I will stay with me, but I rather wish it didn't. My one real gripe is the character called Frank - she is female and I could not for a long time remember that! Her given name is Frances and at one point she even corrects the police when they call her Frances. I did not see the significance of her name - maybe it got lost in editing.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. The atmosphere conveyed in the book is so bleak - the writing so evocative and for that it deserves the 5 stars.

You Were Made For This is out 28 June 2018. My thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review.

The Cottingley Secret - Hazel Gaynor

Description

The New York Times bestselling author turns the clock back to a time when two young girls convinced the world that fairies really did exist…

1917: When two young cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright from Cottingley, England, announce they have photographed fairies at the bottom of the garden, their parents are astonished. But when the great novelist, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, endorses the photographs’ authenticity, the girls become a sensation; their discovery offering something to believe in amid a world ravaged by war.

One hundred years later… When Olivia Kavanagh finds an old manuscript and a photograph in her late grandfather’s bookshop she becomes fascinated by the story of the two young girls who mystified the world. As Olivia is drawn into events a century ago, she becomes aware of the past and the present intertwining, blurring her understanding of what is real and what is imagined. As she begins to understand why a nation once believed in fairies, will Olivia find a way to believe in herself?

Review

I am going to begin my review by saying that I found this book to be utterly enchanting - such beautiful and evocative writing made me want to savour every word I read. I am not a fan of flowery descriptive writing normally, as I prefer to get the tale told: but this was so wonderful that I wished I could have framed some of the sentences to read all over again. One of my favourites is right at the beginning of the book "The house stood at the top of a steep hill, at the end of a row of seven or so terraced houses bunched together like books on a shelf, with Number 31 the bookend propping them all up".

The story is told over two timelines which are clearly headed in the book and at no time was it confusing to know which era you were in. One timeline is about the girls and how they came to photograph the fairies and the other timeline is set in the present day in Ireland. The present day timeline is mainly focused around a bookshop and I was in heaven when reading those lovely pages. I also loved the fact that Olivia in the present day was a book binder. I won't spoil the book by describing what the connection is, just to say it is all woven together with a thread that is in itself magical. There is also a sensitivity that the author shows for the subject of dementia and it was portrayed so realistically, as were the scenes in the residential home.  As the book neared the end I found myself crying more than a few tears, as I had become very attached to the characters.

To be balanced in my review, I will say there are some elements of the book that jolt you back to reality and appear unlikely - such as Olivia seemingly cutting herself off from her life in England and her fiance. However, I chose to go with the flow and not worry about such things - after all the book is a little more than a little magical.

I had heard of the Cottingley fairies and over the years each time the story once more came to the surface I was intrigued - did the girls really fake the photographs? Whilst this is a work of fiction I was delighted when I reached the end of the book to find that the author had in fact connected with the daughter of one of the girls, Christine Lynch. She has included at the end of the book a letter from Christine and it just added all the more to the charm of the book. So often a book comes to an end and you are left in a little bit of a quandry as to what just happened? I have so many questions. But, Hazel Gaynor has not only her own "Notes on a Fairy Tale" explaining how she came to write the novel but also the photographs which inspired it. A wonderful finishing touch to the book for me. 

I need to read more by this author. I do in fact now realise that I have one of her earlier books on my TBR list, and that book is now very much at the top. 

I'm giving this book five out of five stars - I wish it could be more! My thanks to Netgalley for a copy of the book for review.

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.