Hubble Bubble - Jane Lovering

Hubble Bubble by Jane Lovering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Holly's brother Nick introduces her to Kai she dismisses him as someone of little importance despite his devastatingly attractive looks, most of her concentration is given over to her brother of whom she has been protective all her life.

But Kai is destined to keep cropping up in her life especially when along with her best friend Megan she answers a small ad to join a witchcraft group just for a laugh she tags along and meets a disparate group of women all looking for that missing something in their lives and prepared to turn their hands to spell casting in order to try and achieve it. He is a journalist and has quite deliberately cultivated the title bastard - he's a bastard by nature and he sees no reason why he shouldn't be one in nature too it helps keep people at arms length and means he never has to give away the slightest clue about the real Kai.

Holly isn't lacking anything a spell can fix - her life is full and rewarding, in fact it's exactly how she's chosen it to be, uncomplicated and cool with no messy relationships and feelings to get in the way of getting on with life. She doesn't want a man cluttering up her carefully ordered existence. She sees nothing wrong in dating a series of tossers she has no feelings for at all and maintaining a sexy yet shallow, fuck buddy to satisfy her needs!

What unfolds are the stories of the lives of the 5 very different "witches", Kai's background and the reasons why he's like he is begin to draw similarities to the way Holly behaves.

All the characters are deeply flawed, circumstances have made them all the way they are and yet they are all immensely believeable and in the main very likeable - apart from several really vile bigoted men, of whom the girls fall foul when communing with nature in order to practise their amateur magic and this creates some real tension and nastiness.

There are quite a few twists and turns - it's a very sexy tale as well as being a romantic love story and one which I thoroughly enjoyed from start to end.

I don't know how Choc-lit keep on repeatedly coming up with such deeply satisfying novels, which just have you hooked from page one and turning the pages deep into the night - but keep up the excellent work folks, you're keeping a lot of ladies very happy by feeding our imaginations with your delicious heroes and tasty stories.

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After the fall - Charity Norman

After the Fall by Charity Norman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing - absolutely adored this book. This is a family drama in the great tradition of Diane Chamberlain with a tension and keep you guessing suspense which elevate it far above the run of the mill.

It tells the story of a family for whom things have begun to go badly wrong, trying to put them right - husband Kit whose business has folded has battled alcoholism. Mum Martha struggles to balance work with bringing up her beloved toddlers, lively twin boys who stretch her to her limits. Daughter Sacha is reaching the terrible teen years where boys and friends are everything to her and a longing to discover more about her father, who was on the scene long before stepdad Kit arrived becomes almost an obsession.

Life has become one long grind so Martha and Kit decide to relocate to New Zealand where a new start might help them get back on track, they soon find themselves settling in to an idyllic life in a seeming paradise. Sacha is devastated to leave behind her friends and adored Grandad, Martha misses her Dad too and her sister Lou. Kit at last begins to relax and rekindle his talent for Art which he always longed to earn his living at.

All the characters have their own flaws and foibles yet are beautifully created, including the new friends and neighbours in NZ who help them settle in.

But as is obvious from the very start of the story, not everything in Paradise is perfect and there has been a terrible accident injuring one of the little twin lads who has plunged from a balcony.

The circumstances surrounding the fall are gradually revealed, there is so much more going on below the surface than at first meets the eye, and we agonise with Martha as she has decisions to make which we all hope will never be ours to have to make. Martha narrates the story and we really get inside her skin she is a terrific character, she behaves like a real person always trying to do her best for her family but not always able to get every single thing right - she's not perfect and all the more believable for her frailties.

The descriptions of New Zealand had me wanting to go out and book tickets right now and the superb narrative had me turning the pages so fast I got paper cuts. I did guess the mystery behind Sachas parentage as the clues were there but this didn't spoil anything at all as the story is a great human interest tale to absorb the reader as well as having several mysteries and shocks to make you gasp.

This really is a sensationally well constructed novel I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed One Breath Away The Good Father or The Rose Petal Beach and I can't wait to read some more books by this very talented lady.

The Wedding Diary - Margaret James - Choc-lit

The Wedding Diary by Margaret James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A romance of the highest standard I've come to expect from Choc-lit.

Cat and Adam meet at that unfortunate period in life when each is licking their wounds after the sudden ending of a relationship.

Finding romance is the last thing you need when you're pining for the love who left you and trying to think of ways to get them back.

To add insult to injury Cat finds ot she has won a dream wedding in a competition she entered when she was still with the unreliable Jack and she hopes it might get him falling back into her arms.

But things never work out quite how you plan them and when she and Adam keep getting thrown together in their lines of work and with their connections to the hotel where the dream wedding prize was scheduled, neither of them can deny a strong attraction to each other but both of them keep a wide berth knowing the other is unavailable.

The story flows beautifully from start to finish, with characters you can believe wholeheartedly in, to an easy to follow, yet intriguing storyline, a few laugh out loud moments and larger than life characters you'll swear you've met in the past. Adam is an absolute dream hunk you just want to give a big hug to (amongst other things) and the ending's just perfect.

Don't miss this for your summer reading list it's the perfect beach read.

The Painted Bridge - Wendy Wallace

The Painted Bridge by Wendy Wallace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having recently read and enjoyed Blue Asylum I was interested to see how this book compared. At first appearing very similar - both set in the 19th century, both with heroines who have been placed in asylums by their husbands, and both featuring a natural longing to escape. Yet they are both extremely different stories with unique characters and a completely different feel to them.

In the painted bridge we meet Anna, recently married, taken on an outing to "visit friends" by her older, well respected, religious husband, who discovers to her horror that he has brought her not to a warm family home but to a run down mansion used as an asylum for women where he abandons her, having convinced the medical profession (with little more than a willingness to pay the fees) that she is mad and hysterical, and the more she protests her sanity, the more it makes her seem to fit the bill of hysteric.

She reluctantly accepts her fate and begins to mix with the other inmates, whilst undergoing some truly terrible "treatments" evident to us as torture.

A regular visitor to Lake House asylum is a physician - Lucas St Clair, who is experimenting with the new medium of photography to try and reveal the womens states of mind from the traits and expressions revealed in photographs. Drawn to Anna he seizes the chance to photograph her, hoping he may discover her innocence, yet fearing he may reveal further madnesses.

As Anna gets to know the other madwomen locked alongside her she discovers truths about her own background and learns about what almost all the women have in common - husbands or families who want them locked away for varying reasons. She meets and befriends Catherine, the Asylum Manager's fragile daughter whome she hopes may help her effect an escape, which she plans, whilst gazing at the pretty painted bridge in the houses grounds.

The characters are beautifully written, especially the women, you can't help but empathise with their plights. The story is subtle yet demanding, I just couldn't put it down once I'd started it.

If you enjoy well researched historical fiction set in the Victorian era and like strong, believeable heroines with plenty of character you'll love the Painted Bridge, and maybe you'll never feel quite as comfortable again, being taken to visit friends of your husband in the countryside! Highly recommended.

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The Promise - Ann Weisgarber

The Promise by Ann Weisgarber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like the author's first book The Personal History of Rachel DuPree which I thoroughly enjoyed this is a historical novel loosely featuring a real event - a devastating storm. I loved this book too, just couldn't put it down.

However this has much more depth than it would seem, it's a novel of place, of time and of people, all of which are described accurately and realistically. We are introduced to two strong and instantly recognizable female narrators. Told in turns by Catherine, an unusual woman at the turn of the century for having chosen to pursue a career as a musician. We agonize with her at the realization that her ill advised liaison with a married man has not just left her abandoned and broken hearted but completely ostracized by society, viewing her with the scorn and contempt afforded to any adultress she is branded a slut and unfit for polite company. She can no longer maintain the place in society she fought so hard to get and her life seems to be going from bad to worse.

It really brings home how limited choices for women were around the turn of the century even when they are leading a more modern and unconventional lifetsyle than is the norm - society has strict moral rules and woe betide anyone who does not adhere to them.

Meanwhile at the other side of the country in Galvseton we hear the drawn out southern tones of Nan Maynard a 25 year old working as a housemaid to recently widowed Oscar and bringing up his son Andre at his Mothers request - a deathbed promise made from the heart that isn't difficult to keep as she already loves little Andre and her feelings for Oscar are more complex but no less real. She will do everything she can to care for the man and boy she is now in charge of.

Catherine searches through her address book to find someone to whom she may turn for much needed help, she is jobless and soon to be homeless, but she finds everyone with whom she is acquainted has either heard the scandalous rumours about her and no longer wants to know her or are busy with their own affairs - so she seems to be friendless also.

Finally she writes to an old admirer - going back almost to her childhood and finds he is willing to rekindle a friendship by correspondence. Writing letters back and forth with her in increasing desperation, when he finally renews his proposal of marriage to her she grasps it like the lifeline it is and accepts. The suddenness of her acceptance gives her little time to prepare and she finds herself thrust into an alien environment hot, remote and unsophisticated, married to a virtual stranger and a reluctant child into whose Mothers shoes she needs to gingerly step.

When the 2 women in Oscars life meet its hardly surprising that they don't take to one another, but as life grows increasingly difficult for Catherine trying to fit in to this strange new life, it's no easier for Nan to adapt to working for her new mistress. Then a massive storm hits and everything could change overnight.

I galloped through this book, turning page after page, yet I savoured every word as a delicious morsel like a box of chocolates you want to cram in your mouth all at once but are so delicious you let each one melt slowly so you get every drop of flavour out of it. A truly delectable piece of story telling elevated way above the run of the mill romance the initial idea suggests to a piece of social history, heartbreakingly relevant to today. Wonderful.



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Just what kind of mother are you - Paula Daly

Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How would you feel if your best friends young teenage daughter went missing and it was YOUR fault? That's exactly what happens to Lisa in this super debut thriller novel "just what kind of mother are you?"

Lisa and her taxi driver husband Joe live in the lake district where she balances a stressful job managing the local dog and cat sanctuary, running her home, juggling the family finances to make ends meet, bringing up her children, hardly surprising that at times things get on top of her.

I think many of us will relate to that feeling of chasing your own tail around in circles, waking up feeling even more tired than when we went to bed. This novel really does feel true to life, as if we're being given a privileged glimpse inside someone else's life.

As if all that's not enough to cope with, Lisa has to battle the feeling that she's not quite good enough, that her friends somehow look down on her, she's not quite as well heeled as they are, and in the back of her mind constantly taunting her is that little indiscretion years ago that she's almost but not completely managed to put behind her.

So one day when she lets her daughter stay off school, it's not very surprising that it slips her mind that her daughter's friend 13 year old Lucinda was supposed to be coming home after school that night to stay over. Even when Lucindas Mum, Lisa's rather upmarket friend Kate rings her the following morning she barely even notices that Kate's asked "how are the girls?" rather than how are the kids and her non committal reply fails to alert her to the fact that Lucinda is supposed to be there, in her home with her own daughter Sally. When she discovers that Lucinda is missing and people are saying she is to blame, she takes the guilt on board and blames herself too.

Meanwhile the police investigating Lucinda's disappearance begin to draw inevitable comparisons to another young girl who went missing in the same area recently and when a 3rd girl also disappears it seems a serial paedophile is on the prowl in the normally tranquil, Lake District in the depths of winter.

One of the investigating officers is Joanne, a really well written character I grew to like immensely. There are lots of excellent, well rounded characters all extremely believable. Lots of twists and a strong storyline with lots of pathos with side storylines featuring the animals at the sanctuary where Lisa works, the background of DC Joanne Aspinall and her aunt with whom she lives "Mad Jackie" who far from being mad seemed one of the saner characters in the book and I also liked her enormously. It kept me turning the pages and wondering what was behind Lucindas disappearance right until the end. A very well written, enjoyable read and I look forward immensely to any future books by this exciting new author.

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White Horse - Alex Adams

White Horse by Alex Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I won a copy of this book from the publishers Facebook page. I wasn't completely sure whether it would appeal and I probably wouldn't have gone out and bought it - what a GEM I'd have missed out on!

The book cover likens it to "the hunger games"The Hunger Games and this made me expect a YA fantasy. Don't get me wrong I've read and loved The hunger games, but this is quite, quite different. It's a truly horrifying look at the breakdown of society following a pandemic and man made disasters which could all too easily really come to pass!

Set in our world just before and following global disaster, the narrative flits back and forth between two time periods - then and now. Told in the first person by Zoe, a thirtysomething woman, THEN - widowed and working in a cleaning job in a laboratory, to fund her further education. She has a recurring nightmare which leads her to see a shrink, to whom she ultimately finds herself attracted. NOW - she wanders a dystopian world of nightmarish scenes, where she is one of the few survivors of a worldwide pandemic a terrible virus which, in the few instances where it doesn't kill has the power to alter and mutate genetic structure, meaning that even if she comes across another survivor who looks ok, she can't assume their humanity is still intact.

She is on a journey of survival and takes us along for the ride - what happens is often brutal, very gory and completely terrifying. It takes quite a lot to scare me and this one most definitely had the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who isn't too squeamish and even though it might appeal to many readers of the hunger games it is MUch more adult in theme and I'd urge you to judge it for its own merits.

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A Stitch in time by Amanda James

A Stitch in Time by Amanda James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wasn't completely sure about the idea of this book initially, kind of sci-fi/fantasy romance but as soon as I began it, it really reminded me of recent series' of Dr Who. In fact so much that throughout it, in my mind, John spoke with David Tennant's voice (my favorite Doctor Who actor) and it swept me along in a lovely swirl of excitement and continued to entertain and enthrall me as much as this tv show does.

It's a fast paced easy reading contemporary romance which follows the adventures of Sarah, a middle aged divorcee teacher, struggling to get job satisfaction from her work as a history teacher, licking her wounds following a very painful breakup of her marriage when suddenly her life becomes complicated and exciting in ways she'd never dreamed of. Into her life appears the enigmatic and undeniably attractive John Needler, who reveals that he's involved in time travel and Sarah has been chosen to go back in time to put right some wrongs to ensure history doesn't re-write itself to the suffering of many folk.

Her knowledge of history proves invaluable as she is whisked back to the blitz, then the early 1900s and even further back as an American settler. But her vulnerability, having been badly hurt and unable to trust anyone seems set to ruin any chance of happiness she might seem to be going to find with John whom she finds she is passionately attracted to yet unable to really trust.

What unfolds is an exciting and interesting story with lots of historical detail, and a lovely will they/ won't they/ get together/ stay together romance with enough twists to keep you guessing, a delightful hero you want to grab hold of and snog, and enough throw away laugh out loud one liners to keep you thoroughly entertained wherever you're reading it. The perfect holiday read and of the consistently high quality writing I have come to expect from Choc-lit. If you're looking for a fun and enjoyable reading experience with lots of romance thrown in you won't go far wrong with this book (or others from the same publisher)

You can buy a copy now here at Amazon and at the time of writing  a copy for your kindle is a bargain at under £2

Accidents Happen by Louise Millar

Accidents Happen: A Novel by Louise Millar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having absolutely adored this authors debut novel The Playdate I eagerly anticipated her next book and when I spotted it available for review on Netgalley I instantly applied to read an advance copy - I knew her first book was going to be a hard act to follow ... I'm relieved to say this didn't disappoint.

Accidents happen is another startlingly complex look inside a deeply traumatised mind and a mixture of flawed and complex characters. I found it quite hard to follow at the beginning but this is the authors deliberate attempt to build a sense of suspense and an atmosphere of strangeness and all does become clear if you stick with it.

It's clear from the very beginning that Kates behavior is a little bit peculiar, she is strange and emotionally disturbed, she believes that life is out to get her and that bad things which occur must be more than mere coincidence and she obsesses about facts and figures pertaining to the probability of accidents. Unable to accept that accidents ARE merely coincidences, as her background is revealed we begin to understand her habits better as we realise she has had some truly awful things happen, which would make any of us begin to freak out.

Since she was widowed in one of these dreadful past events, she has made her son Jack her main priority, but in her bid to insulate him against life's knocks she has become an overprotective Mum who can be an embarrassment to a ten year old boy. Her in laws try and act as a buffer but their bewilderment at her increasingly bizarre behaviour begins to cause greater rifts in this fractured family.

It's a relief to all concerned when Kate finally meets someone who seems able to help her overcome her fears and obsessions and gradually she begins to feel a future without fear may be a dim possibility, but of course this is a thriller and things that seem too good to be true usually are and what begins as an exercise in helping her to overcome her compulsions evolves into something much more warped and sinister.

This is quite a difficult book to review without giving too much away, its a fairly complex plot with lots of twists, it changes pace quite a bit and the middle part although never dull begins to lull you into a sense of false security making you believe this is just going to be a nice romance with a happy ending in sight - don't be fooled, it builds excellently towards a very tense and twisted climax you won't want to miss.

One step too far - Tina Seskis

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The tagline "the book everyones going to be talking about" nearly put me off this new title when I spotted it on Netgalley but I decided it did sound pretty interesting and decided to give it a whirl. I'm really glad I did I absolutely loved it.

Its romantic fiction with lots of twists and turns not quite a psychological chiller but enough twists and whys and what's and who's to keep you guessing and second guessing all the way through.

It tells the story of identical twin Emily, on a train, running away from what would seem to be the perfect life and changing her identity, seeking anonymity and escape but from what or why is not clear and the book keeps us wondering and guessing. Emilys alter ego is Cat and she soon finds some rather seedy digs in London and is taken under the tender wing of Angel, herself an escapee from a difficult past. The 2 young women become firm friends but their troubled backgrounds are perhaps not the best basis to build a new life on and despite giving both the ability to accept and tolerate each others flaws an foibles they lurch from drama to crisis together, eventually becoming reliant on drugs and living an increasingly erratic lifestyle.

We are taunted with glimpses of both girls pasts, but never quite enough to work out why Cat would walk out on a much adored husband and a son she obviously still loves deeply. Her twin is shown to be a very unreliable and unlikeable character, her family rather dysfunctional and her own past obviously conceals some deeply traumatic event which has caused her inability to cope and just run away.

Yet its only when tragedy occurs once more that Cat/ Emily is forced to confront her past and we discover exactly what has gone on that she couldn't cope with and its truly, deeply disturbing.

A fabulous debut novel which I think would appeal to lovers of books by Diane Chamberlain and who enjoyed books like The Playdate or The Rose Petal Beach its womens fiction at its very best, human interest drama, well written, teasing and puzzling with exceptional characters you'll feel as though you really know. HIGHLY recommended!

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Out of sight out of mind - Evonne Wareham (Choc-lit)

Out of Sight Out of Mind by Evonne Wareham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Distinctive and unconventional this is a savvy supernatural/ sci-fi romance with a difference. No vampires or werewolves but mind reading experiments, laboratories and scientists somewhat reminiscent of Fringe (the tv series)

Maddy Albi is an influential scientist at the pinnacle of her career in the field of mind experimentation, she can enter peoples heads and feel their feelings and share some of their thoughts, and when she is accosted in an alley by an injured down and out man she uses her skills to determine that he's no real threat. She helps this mystery man she knows only as J and when she discovers he's suffering from amnesia the temptation to use him to further her research and at the same time help him recover his lost memories, is too great to resist and they begin building a tentative relationship based on breaking down the barriers holding back his past.

When she finds that beneath the grime is a man she is very much attracted to, despite her reticence to get emotionally involved with anyone, a relic of her traumatic past she has to call on all her reserves not to fall in love with him, after all neither of them know who he really is or whether he can be trusted and even with her unusual talent she is finding it impossible to breach the wall that's keeping his memories at bay.

What evolves is a complex tale of mystery and suspense coupled with passion and romance to satisfy even the most enquiring reader. J is a complex and desirable hero but deeply mysterious with a sinister past waiting to be revealed. The tension builds until what seems to be a slow paced story begins to hurtle towards a complex and exhilarating finale. Definitely a romance for the discerning intellectual bookworm.

You can buy a copy here

Rubbernecker - Belinda Bauer

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My advance reading copy kindly provided by Net Galley.

I'm very glad Belinda Bauer has written this as a standalone novel, as although her first 3 books were excellent I was beginning to despair at just how many unfortunate events could befall one small village and an even smaller group of people.

This is an unusual and quite quirky look at the world of anatomical dissection so if you're the slightest bit squeamish its probably not for you! The hero Patrick, is a young man with Aspergers syndrome, sparking inevitable comparisons with "the curious incident of the dog in the night time"

Losing his father to a tragic and sudden accident when he was younger has created a deep need to understand the whys and wherefores of death and sets his mind on studying anatomy to further his knowledge of the frailty of the human body and satisfy his curiosity about death. His fellow anatomy students often have difficulty understanding Patricks motives, yet despite his inability to relate to his mother, once he is away from home and living in student digs he begins to develop tentative friendships and gradually to gain insights into why people do and say things he previously didn't understand.

Alongside his story run several other storylines, the patients and nurses in a coma ward play a big part and a mystery is uncovered by Patrick, which many people are reluctant to even listen to, the quirks of his condition creating difficulties for his credibility and giving rise to some unlikely humour. This is in fact a wryly humorous book throughout, although much of it is very dark.

The characters, many of whom are somewhat larger than life are all nevertheless very credible and real. The storyline twists and turns yet all ties up neatly at the end. It's a very enjoyable thriller and nicely unusual enough to lift it out of the run of the mill and be something a little special. Read it, shudder a little, laugh now and again and be entertained throughout.

The Gilded fan by Christina Courtenay

The Gilded Fan by Christina Courtenay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the ultimate escapism novel, historic with well informed careful research, scenes delicately painted with beautiful words, romance and lovely well rounded characters who are a delight to spend time with.

The story begins in Japan with the orphaned heroine Midori, daughter of a Samurai warrior and an English woman, discovering her life is in imminent danger; her half brother helps secure her a passage on a merchant ship captained by Dutchman Nico Noordholt, and she sets sail for Amsterdam, intending to continue to England to throw herself on the mercy of her late mothers family in Plymouth. Although in many ways she has led a sheltered life and had a privileged upbringing, her training in sword fighting and self defense seem as though they may be put to good use when she finds herself the only female on board a ship with a crew of over 100 raucous seamen deprived of female company and Captain Nico begins to regret his decision to allow such an attractive young woman to disrupt his ship and finds she is on his mind far more than he imagined any woman would ever be.

The journey is fraught with danger and mishaps but Midori finds loyal friendship on board in unlikely places. Her arrival in England is no less eventful when she discovers secrets about her mothers family and struggles to adapt to their rigid Puritan way of life after the bountiful life filled with lavish colourful treasures and beauty which she has left behind. Civil war threatens to destroy her new found family and the fragile peace of mind in the new life she is trying to build.

Threaded through the story like a colourful thread running through a silk kimono is the attraction between Midori and Nico who seems destined to keep turning up.

A lovely, well written and charming historical romance of the consistently exceptionally high standard I have come to know and expect from Choc-Lit books. Very highly recommended if you like spirited heroines, mouth watering heroes, gritty historical descriptions and tender romance rolled into a page turning package to take you away from your humdrum life for a few hours.

Buy your paperback or Kindle copy at Amazon

The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tracy Chevalier has the gift of making her writing appear effortless and easy as her stories seem to flow naturally, the true genius of penmanship, yet her research and attention to detail demonstrates her expertise and dedication to her craft.

This story of a young English Quaker girl Honor Bright who sets off to America accompanying her sister who is engaged to be married. Following a broken relationship the quiet and unassuming Honor, nevertheless demonstrates bravery in taking, what in the 1850s must have been an immense leap of faith and a massive journey. Beset by tremendous sea sickness her only desire is to land in her new homeland but things don't go to plan and she finds herself alone and uncertain amongst strangers who in the main seem not to want her there.

She finds friendship in the unlikely guise of Brash Belle the Milliner, whose rough edged brother Donovan attracts and repels Honor. The story builds around her natural distaste for slavery and desire to help runaways and her need to help herself survive in the days when a woman alone had few choices and marriage was something not just desirable but almost essential.

I found the story with its background of Quakerism interesting, having recently moved to the Quaker town of Darlington where the Quaker history of the town is much in evidence today, I liked reading about the history of patchwork, Honors greatest hobby and how it differs in England and the USA and how important it was deemed. It's a gentle and easy read which nevertheless covers some gritty historical details mainly about the abolition of slavery and the so called underground railway - a network of sympathisers who helped runaway slaves

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys historical fiction set in the early days of the USA and reading about women made strong by their circumstances.

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The Girl on the Mountain - Carol Ervin

The Girl on the Mountain by Carol Ervin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was very pleasantly surprised at the high quality of writing in this book which I grabbed when it was on offer free for the kindle. I was absorbed in the story of May Rose a young wife around the turn of the 19th century living in a remote mountain shack in West Virginia with her husband a logger at the nearby logging camp, who has become taciturn and distant and seems very different from the laughing young man she defied her family to marry.

Lonely and isolated in her cabin whilst he's away working she begins to wonder how on earth she can continue. I felt overwhelming pathos when she pens a letter to her distant cousins not wanting to admit her loneliness and desolation, she describes to them how she spends her days telling her friend Nellie about things she used to enjoy with her cousins, Nellie however is the pig she has raised.

Her life is about to change in many ways and not all for the better, when she has the opportunity to mix with folk again she finds that first opinions aren't always to be relied upon and the story unfolds as we are introduced to the many characters who shape her story as she adapts to life in a small logging town and fights to gain respect and independence despite limited options and unjustified prejudice against her.

It's a lovely story, written with great panache and lots of authority in the rich historical detail which never becomes teachy or preachy. Delightful throughout although I found the ending a little sudden and can only assume a sequel is planned by this new and talented autjor.

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The light between oceans - M L Stedman

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow - WOW and did I mention WOWWW, it's quite a while since a book blew me away quite as much as this emotional and stunningly beautiful book did it was gorgeous and I loved it

I finished it last night to floods of tears, I actually had to put it to one side when I began reading it on my recent holidays as tear reddened, puffed up eyes aren't really the look you want when you wake up on a morning and I found some of it emotionally harrowing -in parts I'd just suddenly hiccup and find I was blubbing like a baby

It is however the most beautifully written story about love and loss and the consequences of taking a wrong or right decision.

It tells the story of Tom, war veteran and lighthouse keeper, how he meets the love of his life Isabel and takes her to live in possibly the remotest and wildest location possible for a newly married couple to set up new home together. At first they enjoy their isolation but when Izzy's longing to give Tom the child which would complete their little family is denied her, their relationship is put under some strain.

Until one day a boat washes up carrying a dead body and a surviving baby and a decision is made which shapes lives and alters the course of events in unforeseen ways.

The setting in a lighthouse of the coast of Australia in the 1930s was unique and fascinating, the characters immaculately constructed and the prose evocative, poignant and delicious. So good I can't recommend it highly enough and would happily give it 6/5 were that possible.

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The Playdate - Louise Millar

The Playdate by Louise Millar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent twisty psychological thriller with 3 deeply flawed female lead characters - loved it.

The story focusses on 3 very different female lead characters - all easy to relate to and extremely well constructed yet whom as we get to know them are all in different ways deeply flawed characters.

Callie is bringing up her daughter Rae single handed and is deeply protective of her rather fragile daughter. Both find it hard to make friends and be accepted so Callie has come to rely on the friendship of Suzy her neighbour and fellow mother, American and somewhat slapdash she brings up her 3 boys whilst her husband Jez spends more and more time at the office.

Into the picture comes the rather highly strung Debs and her husband, when they move into the neighbourhood next door to Suzy.

It's inevitable that the 3 womens' paths cross, and as their lives become entwined we are drawn deeper into each of their circumstances and a creeping feeling of unease begins to stir in the readers mind as we wonder who if any of them can be trusted and who has the most to hide.

I loved the way the story begins quite gently and semms like a nicey nicey chick lit/ aga saga then develops into something deep and dark and really rather nasty.

It took me a little while to get into it I really did think at first it wasn't going to be my cup of tea at all, but how wrong I was - and so glad I stuck with it. This is a masterful and convoluted plot handled with ease and superb authorship. If you have similar tastes to me do read this I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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Gone Girl - by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a deep, disturbed and twisty plot this thriller has. A Couple of friends recommended this book as I love a psychological chiller and to be honest it took me a while to get into it but once I was there I was hooked.

It is the story of a married couple - Nick and Amy and what a flawed and psychologically damaged pair these 2 are. We begin with Nick narrating and telling us the story of how Amy has gone missing from their home the scene of a violent struggle apparent, and as the story flips back and forth between narrators, looking back in time to when they first met, when the cracks began to appear in their marriage and getting both points of view we begin to mistrust what we are told and wonder who is the least reliable narrator.

Discovering the truth takes us on a journey of shocking discovery, with characters its impossible to like, but often to grudgingly, cringingly admire for their deviousness and blatant immorality.

Despicable traits in almost all the main characters, however, instead of alienating the reader keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through and had me gasping at their audacity at some points.

The end felt a touch rushed but the journey to get there was so exciting I can forgive that, if you like tense thrillers give this a try I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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A very Happy New Year to everyone - hope your year is filled with wonderful books and many friends.

A good read at the start of 2013 is on offer to the lucky winner of Searching for Captain Wentworth ...
and the winner is ...
Sam1978
Please contact me with your address Sam so I can post your book off. Lets hope this is the start of many good things this New Year for you.

The Vanishing Point - Val McDermid

The Vanishing Point by Val McDermid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was my first book by Val McDermid and it probably won't be my last. I was looking for something tense and thrilling and this certainly fit the bill, loads of twists and turns.

Beginning with the abduction of a child in an airport in America, we are then introduced to the childs guardian Stephanie, a ghost writer who makes a living interviewing and then writing biographies of celebrities.

Recently she had been involved with writing the life story of a reality tv star, and this is the bit I found rather hard to stomach - The author has clearly based her second lead character very closely on the late celebrity Jade Goody and for me that made it a lazy way of writing a story - the parallels kept on coming and I just kept feeling as though I'd read the book before as there were too many similarities to her life.

However the story was so well written I was prepared to overlook this and am glad I did as the story develops in ways reality never could and builds to a truly shocking climax.

As the search for the missing child continues we are given hints of who may be behind it, fed a few rather tasty red herrings and led gently up the garden path without realizing where we are heading - and even on those occasions where we second guess whats coming its never quite how we anticipated.

In my opinion the authors writing style seemed a touch dated, for such a contemporary theme I felt it was written by someone who had researched everything really well but wasn't completely in touch with today's celebrity culture. However her great storytelling ability more than made up for this and her ability to weave a web of events whilst keeping me completely absorbed despite those few minor misgivings makes me want to go out and discover what else she has to offer.

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