BOOKSIMO

Eliza Bennet has the life she's always dreamed of. She's who she wants to be, and she's with the man she loves. But Eliza is living a lie. Her real name is Klaudia Myer. And Klaudia is on the run. She's escaping her old life, and a terrible secret buried at the heart of her family. This is the story of Eliza and Klaudia - one girl, two lives and a lie they cannot hide from. To put this into perspective, one woman two lives I think is a little strong. Klaudia was a child and then she called herself Eliza when she went to University - not quite the dramatic event of two lives that the book cover proclaims. So I was wrong footed when I began to read, as I had assumed (!) that this was going to an adult who had reinvented herself. Ultimately I suppose the book is about identity and how others perceive you through the bloodline you carry. However, to me this book was far more interesting from the perspective of Klaudia's Father and Uncle who ha...

Witnessing a dramatic death at London’s Waterloo Station triggers a series of events that shatter Eva Scott’s world. Dying words uttered on the station concourse awaken a history she had thought long buried. But the past is about to be resurrected, in all its brutal reality. Soon, Eva's life is out of her hands. A genetic key is keeping her alive – but foreshadowing her death. People she loved and lost materialise and then disappear, testing the limits of her sanity. Inextricably linked to her survival is the potential takedown of an economic power, on which hang the lives of many others. The only way out is through. But Eva’s life is no longer her own. And it's killing her. I read the prequel to this novel - "Lethal Profit" a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.  My only gripe with that book was that the heroine Eva had  no survival skills or training in combat and yet luck got her through.  Quite near the beginning of the book Ms Blackmore makes the poi...

There are many reasons to bake: to feed; to create; to impress; to nourish; to define ourselves; and, sometimes, it has to be said, to perfect. But often we bake to fill a hunger that would be better filled by a simple gesture from a dear one. We bake to love and be loved. In 1966, Kathleen Eaden, cookery writer and wife of a supermarket magnate, published  The Art of Baking , her guide to nurturing a family by creating the most exquisite pastries, biscuits and cakes. Now, five amateur bakers are competing to become the New Mrs Eaden. There's Jenny, facing an empty nest now her family has flown; Claire, who has sacrificed her dreams for her daughter; Mike, trying to parent his two kids after his wife's death; Vicki, who has dropped everything to be at home with her baby boy; and Karen, perfect Karen, who knows what it's like to have nothing and is determined her façade shouldn't slip. As unlikely alliances are forged and secrets rise to the surface, making...

Move over Jackie Collins, there’s a new blockbuster star in town.’  New!  Magazine Lovers and liars, divas and sinners, welcome to a world of scandal, where one woman will pay the ultimate price. SUSPENSE: Georgia’s  best friend, ballroom dancing sensation Mitzi, has vanished with boyfriend Foster while on holiday in California. Can Georgia get to the truth of their disappearance before it’s too late? SECRETS:  Reality TV star  Nova  could give the Kardashians a run for their money. But while she allows millions of viewers into her fabulous home, she’s unaware what her husband, celebrity mogul Jacob, is up to behind closed doors … SEX: Tanya  is filthy rich, married to a man who adores her but she is restless. And her sexual appetite is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble. SCANDAL: Victoria , once the trophy-wife, has lost her mojo. Determined to get her life and marriage back on track, she’s desperate to inject some excitement i...

Best-selling suspense novelist Mary Higgins Clark invites you on a tour of Manhattan's most iconic neighborhoods in this anthology of all-new stories from the Mystery Writers of America. From the Flatiron District (Lee Child) and Greenwich Village (Jeffery Deaver) to Little Italy (T. Jefferson Parker) and Chinatown (S.J. Rozan), you'll encounter crimes, mysteries, and riddles large and small. Illustrated with iconic photography of New York City and packaged in a handsome hardcover, Manhattan Mayhem  is a delightful read for armchair detectives and armchair travelers alike! Well! NYC and mysteries - was all I needed to request this book to review, topped by a picture of the Empire State Building on the cover - pity it is only a e book. When I was a child in the 70s I read a lot of Ellery Queen stories - I loved the cleverness of them and the twists and turns. The stories in this book remind me so much of those stories - the plots are quirky and different and a joy to re...

THEY SAY EVERY FAMILY HAS SKELETONS IN THEIR CLOSET . . . But what happens when you open the door and they won’t stop tumbling out? For Adam and Beth the first secret wasn’t the last, it was just the beginning. You think you can imagine the worst thing that could happen to your family, but there are some secrets that change everything. And then the question is, how can you piece together a future when your past is being rewritten? To be honest I chose to review this book based on the fact that I liked the cover, shallow I know. But sometimes a cover can really make you want to read a book and this is what happened to me. To begin with I thought this was going to be a bit of a pedestrian book with the usual husband cheats, wife finds out etc. Then I got drawn into the wonderful layers that this book has, the insightful writing which just called out to me, yes, this is what it is like, this is what happens in real life.  But then other layers began...

THE INTERNATIONAL  NUMBER 1  BESTSELLER Millie Bird  is a seven-year-old girl who always wears red wellington boots to match her red, curly hair. But one day, Millie’s mum leaves her alone beneath the Ginormous Women’s underwear rack in a department store, and doesn’t come back.  Agatha Pantha  is an eighty-two-year-old woman who hasn’t left her home since her husband died. Instead, she fills the silence by yelling at passers-by, watching loud static on TV, and maintaining a strict daily schedule. Until the day Agatha spies a little girl across the street. Karl the Touch Typist  is eighty-seven years old and once typed love letters with his fingers on to his wife’s skin. He sits in a nursing home, knowing that somehow he must find a way for life to begin again. In a moment of clarity and joy, he escapes.  Together, Millie, Agatha and Karl  set out to find Millie’s mum. Along the way, they will discover that the young can be wise, that old age is...