BOOKSIMO

  Description In 1934, a luxury cruise becomes a fight for survival as two women’s pasts collide on a round-trip voyage from New York to Havana in  New York Times  bestselling author Chanel Cleeton's page-turning new novel inspired by the true story of the SS  Morro Castle . New York heiress Catherine Dohan seemingly has it all. There’s only one problem. It’s a lie. As soon as the  Morro Castle  leaves port, Catherine’s past returns with a vengeance and threatens her life. Joining forces with a charismatic jewel thief, Catherine must discover who wants her dead—and why. Elena Palacio is a dead woman. Or so everyone thinks. After a devastating betrayal left her penniless and on the run, Elena’s journey on the  Morro Castle  is her last hope. Steeped in secrecy and a burning desire for revenge, her return to Havana is a chance to right the wrong that has been done to her—and her prey is on the ship. As danger swirls aboard the  Morro Castle  and their fates intertwine, Elena and Cath

  Description Life is (not)* a Romantic Comedy... With a series of heartbreaks under her belt, Sally Milz - successful script writer for a legendary late-night TV comedy show - has long abandoned the search for love. But when her friend and fellow writer begins to date a glamorous actress, he joins the growing club of interesting but average-looking men who get romantically involved with accomplished, beautiful women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch, poking fun at this 'social rule'. The reverse never happens for a woman. Then Sally meets Noah, a pop idol with a reputation for dating models. But this isn't a romantic comedy - it's real life. Would someone like him ever date someone like her? Skewering all our certainties about why we fall in love, ROMANTIC COMEDY is a witty and probing tale of how the heart will follow itself, no matter what anyone says. It is Curtis Sittenfeld at her most sharp, daring and compassionate best. Review Not too keen on this one

  Description The new must-read cozy crime mystery from the bestselling author of  Dial A For Aunties   Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing… Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective? Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet). But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer. Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth. Knives Out  meets  Kim’s Convenience  for anyone who loves solving mysteries by Richard Osman and Janice Hallett, and watching  Death in Paradise  and  Midsomer Murders . R

  Description One extraordinary woman. One hundred years of history. One unforgettable story. Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first daughter in a family of five boisterous sons. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth. Through her father's prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses all and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling. In a letter to someone she loves above all others, Violeta recounts devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, times of both poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy, and a life shaped by some of the m

  Description Nosey Neighbours, Vigilantes or Community Assets? Read these charming tales and you decide! Thirteen stalwart and like-minded women meet weekly as a Sewing Circle to publicly portray their dedication to knitting, needlework and all things stitched. Nothing, could be further from the truth. Bessie the Law learns that there has been a serious outbreak of litter all over Pembroke town. She calls upon the Sewing Circle members to quickly expose the young culprits. How deep will they have to dig to find the real criminal who aims to make money out the town’s discarded rubbish? A member of a respected family in the town is accused of poisoning her sister. Bron the Books steps out of the library and engages the Sewing Circle to prove her friend’s innocence. Will they need to take a closer look at the so-called treasured family pets to uncover the real poisoner? Megan the Signals alerts the Sewing Circle to an auction fraud involving her grandmother’s antique chairs. They arrive

  Description The hidden fabric of a Victorian woman's life - from family and friends to industry and Empire - told through her unique textile scrapbook. In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of her life and times. Her name was Mrs Anne Sykes. Nearly two hundred years later, the diary fell into the hands of Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator. Strasdin spent the next six years unravelling the secrets contained within the album's pages. Piece by piece, she charts Anne's journey from the mills of Lancashire to the port of Singapore before tracing her return to England in later years. Fragments of cloth become windows into Victorian life: pirates in Borneo, the complicated etiquette of mourning, poisonous dyes, the British Empire in full swing, rioting over working conditions and the terrible human cost of Britain's cott

  Description ‘A heartfelt and exciting debut . . . a wise and honest story of how it feels to be a young woman in search of yourself’ Taylor Jenkins Reid,  Sunday Times  bestselling author of  The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Meet Nora Hughes – the overworked, underpaid, last bookish assistant standing. At least for now. When Nora landed an editorial assistant role at Parsons Press she thought it would be The Dream Job. But after five years of admin and taking lunch orders, Nora has come to the conclusion: Dream Jobs do not exist. With her life spiralling and unable to afford her rent, Nora does the only thing she can think of and starts freelancing for a rival publisher. But when Andrew Santos, a bestselling author (who also happens to be  quite  attractive), is thrown into Nora’s life, she must decide where her loyalties lie, and whether she’s ready to choose herself and her future over her job… Your next book club read touching on mental health, happiness and the ups and downs of