Currently reading ….

Hello lovely Book people 🙂 

Just a quick update,

The blog has been a bit quiet lately, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not reading some lovely books, I have read a couple of corkers in the last couple of weeks but they’re not published yet, so I can’t put up my reviews 😦 rest assured however as soon as I’m able, they will be there for you all to read.

I was also luckily enough to be invited to Rebecca Raisin’s Afternoon Tea at ‘The 5th View’ in Piccadilly yesterday (Sunday 29th March)  A very good time was had by all 🙂    

 Watch this space for my blog post telling you all about it … 

That’s all for now folks !

Happy Reading 🙂 

xxx

You Belong To Me – Samantha Hayes.

Back of the book : 

YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE YOUR PAST.

Fleeing the terrors of her former life, Isabel has left England and at last is beginning to feel safe. Then a letter shatters her world, and she returns home determined not to let fear rule her life any more.

But she’s unable to shake off the feeling that someone who knows her better than she knows herself may be following her.

Watching ….. Waiting ….

Ready to step back into her life and take control all over again …..

 

What I think : 

Isabel or Izzy as her friends call her, is in hiding.

She just up and left one day, even her parents don’t know where she is.  Izzy is in hiding because she has a stalker, an ex-boyfriend who made her life pretty awful and wouldn’t leave her alone.

Izzy has made a life for herself in India, where she has a job in a small hotel and has made some friends. One day however, a letter from home somehow reaches her, telling her that her parents have been killed in a road traffic accident and the person who was driving the car was her stalker, her ex Felix Darwin and he’s in a coma. She decides that she must return to England to find out what has happened. luckily on the day she finds out about her parents, she makes a friend, a man called Owen, he’s an architect in India on business and staying at the same hotel where Izzy works. They fly back to Birmingham together and he offers to help her find out what happened to her parents and gives her somewhere to stay in a small flat at his house.  Everything is fine to start with, then odd things start to happen, does someone know she’s back … ?

Right from the start of the book it gets right to the heart of the subject, stalking. The book opens with a  woman being chased down an alleyway, then murdered by an unknown person, however the woman’s last words are the name of her stalker. A pretty  spine tingling beginning in anyone’s estimation.

The book is written from each characters perspective, including the ex-boyfriend/stalker, which I think is fascinating reading as its just like getting into his head and finding out how he really ticks.

I also loved the way that the author brought back two very familiar characters in the shape of the two DI’s Lorraine and Adam. Lorraine is portrayed in a more vulnerable light in this book, which is really nice as in the two other books she was more ‘hard’ and a bit of a ‘ball-breaker’

This is such a wonderfully addictive with book with a cast of excellently written characters that you want to shout out loud to. Izzy was such a pushover and I did feel quite sorry for her at times and Felix is quite mad, you just want to shout ‘NO, don’t do that’ to him, he really is powered by love that its quite painful to read at times. The twist at the end is so fabulously simple, its keeps you guessing all the way though, there’s no way you could have figured it out. but that’s what make’s it so brilliant I guess.

I absolutely loved this book and give it 10/10. I can’t wait for the next one !

Published by Century ( penguin random house) on 12/03/15.

A big Thank you to Philippa Cotton at Century and the Author Samantha Hayes for the review copy of this book to read and review.

 

 

 

 

The Dandelion Years – Erica James

 

Back of the book : 

In a cottage in Suffolk, Saskia devotes her days tending to broken, battered books that find their way to her. When she discovers a notebook carefully concealed in a old bible, she finds herself drawn into a heart-rending tale of wartime love ….

 

What I think : 

Saskia is a book restorer. she loves books and makes it her life’s work to repair forgotten, unloved books. She lives with her father Ralph, and two Grandpa’s Harvey and Oliver. After a family tragedy on Saskia’s tenth birthday, where her Mum and two grandma’s where killed in a road accident, they decided to all live together in a cottage in the country, so they could help each other through the worst time of their lives.

Ralph, her father sells antique books. Whilst helping her dad sort through some boxes of books, she finds an old bible. Inside the old bible, in a hollowed out part at the back of the book she finds an old notebook. As Saskia starts to read the notebook she discovers that its actually a diary of sorts, entitled ‘The Dandelion Years’ its tells a story of wartime England in the 1940’s. The unknown author of this notebook is actually at Bletchley Park and helping to uncover secret codes from the Germans ! This spurs Saskia on to find out more about the book and its author. Add to the mix a handsome love interest in the shape of Matthew Grey a customer of Ralph’s, could it be that Saskia’s life is on the up …. ?

I really did love this book. I especially like the way it time travels between now and the 1940’s, I always think that it adds something a little bit extra when you have two time lines. The characters are very warm and loving and really seem to care about each other. However to start with I did feel quite sorry for Saskia as she didn’t seem to have any friends, and living with your dad and two old men really didn’t seem much fun to me. But as the book progresses you discover that this is how she really wants it and its OK. And of course it all comes together at the end, as you would expect from one of Erica’s book’s. This is a fabulous book that is a lovely gentle read that  makes you feel all warm inside.

I give this book 8/10.

Published on 26 Feb 2015 by Orion Books.

A very big Thank you to NetGalley and BookBridgr for the Digital/review copy of the book to read and review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too Close To Home – Susan Lewis.

 

 

Back of the book : 

Jenna and Jack have moved their family to Wales fro a fresh start. For vivacious, happy-go-lucky fifteen year old Paige the future is full of promise.

But suddenly everything changes. Paige becomes more and more withdrawn. The closeness she once shared with her mother is a distant memory.

It then becomes clear that jack has secrets too.  Preoccupied with her younger children, her husband’s fidelity and their fledgling publishing company, Jenna doesn’t realise the extent of her eldest daughters unhappiness until the unthinkable happens.

The nightmare is only just beginning ….

 

What I think : 

Jenna is married to Jack, they have have 3 children together. Josh who is eight and five year old twins, Wills and Flora. Jenna also has fifteen year old daughter, Paige from a previous relationship. Paige and Jack have quite a close relationship as Jack is the only father Paige has ever known. Jack and Jenna have recently sold their house in London and moved to a small village in Wales. Jack was made redundant from his last job as an editor so they are also setting up an online editing business together.

Jenna’s Mother Kay also moved to the village to be close to them as Jenna’s father has recently died. Kay has trouble with giving or receiving affection and seems slightly odd.

To start with Jenna and Jack’s marriage seems solid, but it soon becomes apparent that there is problems as cracks begin to appear. Its not long before Jenna suspects that he’s having an affair.

Paige used to love school she has quite a few friends, a best friend Charlotte,  but that was until Kelly Durham started picking on her,  with her gang of ‘Durmites’ she constantly bullied her at school and online until nobody, apart from Charlotte and a ‘unknown’ online friend called ‘Julia’ wanted to know her. But just who is ‘Julia’ and why has she suddenly befriended Paige and why wont she tell Paige who she really is …. ?

This book is full of wonderfully written characters. I felt really sorry for Jenna, my heart really went out to her. She has a husband that is arrogant enough to think that the world revolves around him, that his needs come first. Paige deserved to be treated so much better than that. She has four kids to take care of, her husband should be supporting her, not running off with the nearest woman that would have him ! Thank goodness she has a wonderful mother and sister to help her.

The author has taken two very difficult subjects, bullying and infidelity and woven a a heartbreaking yet moving story about how when life throws some pretty awful things at you, you can overcome almost anything.

I have always loved Susan’s books, just a right amount of secrets and intrigue that keep you interested right up until the last page of the book. This one was slightly different to her others but it doesn’t mean that its not as good.

I give this wonderful read 8/10

Published by Century (Random House) on 26 Feb 2015.

I purchased my copy from Tesco – £6.00.

 

 

 

 

My Weekly Round-Up 16/02/15 – 01/03/15

 

 

Hello Lovely Book People 🙂

Welcome to My Weekly-Up 🙂

I have been so busy at work these last couple of weeks, so I haven’t been able to do a Round-Up, thankfully though things have slowed down a bit, so I’m able to actually sit down and do a bit of reading.

I must admit, I’m really looking forward to all the lovely books that March will bring, hopefully I’ll be able to find some time to read them !

So, anyway here’s the Round-Up for the last couple of weeks :

 

Books I’ve been sent :

Ridley Road – Jo Bloom.

Wild Oats – Veronica Henry.

That Part Was True – Deborah McKinlay.

The Affairs of Others – Amy Grace Loyd.

50 Shades of Jamie Dornan – Jo Berry.

All these lovely books were sent to me by the very fab folks at Orion Books 🙂

 

Books I’ve been accepted for : 

None this fortnight as I’m trying to get my percentage up.

 

 

Books I’ve purchased this week : 

Second Life – SJ Watson – WHSmith – £7.00.

Too Close To Home – Susan Lewis – Tesco – £6.00.

Not Quite Nice – Celia Imrie – Tesco – £6.00.

 

 

Books I’ve read/currently reading : 

Wish You were Here – Catherine Alliott – 7/10 – An OK read, slightly predictable. – Reviewed on Blog.

Second Life – SJ Watson – 7/10 – Not too bad a read. – Reviewed on Blog.

Too Close To Home – Susan Lewis – Currenlty reading.

 

That’s all for this week folks !

Happy Reading 🙂

xxx