2023… I read many, many books, which were wonderful, but I am glad to see the end of you, as a year. It’s not been my best… Goodreads I completed 157 books this year, and that isn’t counting some I proof read or read as an alpha reader! When they send me my update, I’ll be sure to share!
I’m starting the month with no arcs… You know it won’t last. It never does! (Okay, so there were at least 7 by the end of the month that were arcs!)
Small Hours by Bobby Palmer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Isaac and the Egg was a brilliant read, making me eager to get into this second novel by Bobby Palmer.
Jack is a man who thinks he’s got everything he wants in life until he doesn’t. His job suddenly disappears, and then he gets a call to scare him. His mother has disappeared.
Somewhere along the way, he saves a fox, who ends up following him as he goes to help his sister in finding his mother. Once home it becomes apparent how distant his relationship with his father has become.
I don’t want to go into it too much, but just, WOW!
A delicate, unique way of detailing the complex relationship of a father and son, with the added bonus of a talking fox!
Palmer has an intriguing writing style, and the book’s different voices are highlighted in different ways through the prose format.
It may not be for everyone, but if it is for you, it is guaranteed to be a hit!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline for an ARC.
Releasing 14th March, 2024
The Lifeline by Tom Ellen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh my goodness, I LOVED this book so much!
The scene is set five years ago with a young journalist and the lead singer of an up-and-coming band meeting at an interview and hitting it off in multiple ways.
Fast forward to the present.
Annie is stuck in a mediocre job for an online website, writing content that is nothing groundbreaking. Then her boss throws her a lifeline, but it means interviewing someone she really doesn’t want to.
Will is in a dead-end job, barely existing, and he spends his spare time helping out on an anonymous crisis line. This wasn’t the life he dreamed of.
Through twists of fate, Annie and Will end up on the phone, unidentified, and they develop a strong bond despite not knowing anything about one another.
But fate has other ideas…
I was gripped through the whole story and whizzed through it in a day. As a reader, you know what you want to happen, but you have to see the grizzly bits through first until fate finally delivers!
Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for an ARC.
Releasing 29th February, 2024
Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a beautiful book!
I love GBBO as much as anyone else, and preparing to read a story based on a similar programme excited me. But the biggest pull was that the main character was a woman in her senior years.
Jenny Quinn is seventy-seven years old. She doesn’t feel like she has achieved much in her life, apart from being a brilliant baker, her husband of fifty-nine years, Bernard, would agree. As would her neighbours and family, who are treated to her baking delights regularly.
She watches Britan Bakes regularly, and this year, something prompted her to apply. She is probably the most shocked when she is invited to an audition. Keeping that a secret is one of the hardest things for her, as she hides nothing from Bernard.
Well, almost nothing. There is one more secret. Something huge that eats away at Jenny. It is revealed in short bursts through the story, as we see Jenny’s journey through the contest, how she has to deal with modern life alongside her traditional way of baking and living, and how she interacts with the different people she meets along the way.
I don’t quite know how to praise this book as much as I want to. I loved it. Jenny is a beautiful character, as is Bernard. I already recommended this one to my mum!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House, for an ARC.
Releasing 28th March, 2024
Starting Over by Kay Bratt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
With this eighth instalment in the Hart’s Ridge series, Kay Bratt has done it again!
We have each family member beginning to move forward in their disrupted lives, and of course, there is an awful case that Taylor has to help solve, too.
Initially, this was meant to be the last in the series, but I am thankful that Bratt has decided to continue for now with another story in the series, and now I can’t wait for that, too!
Hunter’s Christmas and Other Stories.: A gripping collection of short stories especially for crime fiction readers. by Val Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve not read Val Penny’s books as yet, but I was sent this collection, and I must say that this collection of stories has whetted my appetite for the different series Penny writes.
Each of the stories hook you in. Some are slightly longer, involving two of Penny’s famous DIs, and some are shorter, but each story is captivating, and I thoroughly enjoyed each one!
It has made me want to add the rest of Penny’s books to my neverending TPR pile!
Out 16th January, 2024. Bettina will be joining me for a Book and a Brew in January, so I will share my review then!
The Household by Stacey Halls
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Having read The Familiars, I was intrigued to read another of Stacey Halls’s historical books, and The Household did not disappoint.
With a base planted in truth, Halls adds a layer of imagination to the story of Charles Dickens’ home for fallen women, Urania Cottage, backed by Miss Burdett-Coutts and some of its earliest (fictitious) residents.
In the 1800s, Dickens had the idea of creating this refuge or home to rehabilitate those known as fallen women, teaching them household jobs and skills, with a view to transporting them to Australia to start new lives.
In reality, he had much to do with choosing the women granted access to this opportunity. In the book, we don’t see much of Dickens. The story revolves around the girls who are the first residents and their backstories, as well as the horrific stalking that Angela Burdett-Coutts experienced for a length of time.
The historical aspect of the story, peppered with facts but liberally seasoned with fiction leaves readers with a wonderful reading experience.
And a mention of Gravesend (my home for 20 years!) at the end made my day!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Books for an ARC.
Releasing 11th April, 2024
Christmas at the Keanu Kindness Café by Isabella May
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Evie meets Joe while she is dressed as the Sugarplum Fairy and he the Nutcracker. Sounds like it was meant to be from the off… however, if that were that, we would be finished within the first couple of chapters.
No. Evie is not feeling things at work as an editor or in her personal life. The chance meeting with the fancy-dressed Joe sparks a moment of reprieve until he disappears.
Disheartened, she takes extended leave from her job and disappears to Glastonbury, recommended by a work colleague, Milly.
There, she meets a host of intriguing characters who take an interest in her life, and she is led to the Keanu Kindness Cafe. I LOVED this concept. Keanu Reeves is one of the most amazing souls out there, and to have a cafe dedicated to him and his philanthropic work was an idea of genius, as was the RAOK jar!
Oh, and Joe? He turns up, too! What a coincidence! There is a brilliant ‘will they/won’t they?’ aspect of the story as it builds, and faces Evie would rather not see turn up, too.
Great fun, and a wonderful way to get into the Christmas Spirit!
Very Very Lucky by Amanda Prowse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another beautiful story written by the queen of women’s fiction, Amanda Prowse!
This story follows the lives of two individuals, with no real connection, from different walks of life, who somehow meet and enrich the life of the other.
Emma is drowning in responsibility, with three children, each with different needs and demands, a husband who does try to help, a best friend with a bombshell of her own, and an ailing mother who requires her support, all while grieving her father.
Thurston is an octagenarian, recently bereaved, losing his beloved wife of sixty-two years. He feels life is not worth living without his precious wife.
A chance meeting sparks the beginning of an unconventional friendship, where they slowly change each other’s thinking.
I loved the main characters Prowse created here. Both are relatable to readers. Emma, the rushed off her feel mother, with so much going on, hit a nerve with me. Thurston is the nail on the head as that man who devoted his life to a woman and feels lost without her beside him. The cast of side characters was brilliant, too, from Roz, Emma’s best friend, to Nancy, Thursston’s niece and the piece in the puzzle that initially connects the two.
Grief is the story’s main theme, and how we can overcome it without forgetting.
A beautiful read, as always.
Releasing 7th January 2024
The Love Interest by Victoria Walters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the first of Victoria Walter’s books I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Firstly, I love a book set in the book world (A library), with literature and writing at the heart, as well as romantic films!
Liv is working in her dream place, in a university library, with a colleague turned best friend, Stevie, living with her brother Dan, in London. Her dream of writing a romantic book floats in her mind, but she feels it will never happen, seeing as she can’t even sort her love life out.
Enter her brother’s best friend, Aiden. Annoying, and her nemesis for the last ten years. She suddenly finds herself living with and working with him as he changes jobs and needs a place to stay,
But, the thing is, they have history. A past event which haunts her, and an annoyingly sexy Irish accent to go with his annoyingly Mr Darcy-esque looks…
As Liv battles to control her emotions, inspiration strikes and she begins writing her first ever romantic novel, with, annoyingly, Aiden as the base for her romantic lead. And as she writes, life begins to imitate her art, or is it the other way round?
This was a fun, easy read, I loved Liv and her fantastic dress sense! Her confusion at her feelings makes for a great story, and Aiden reads like the perfect romantic hero. A great enemies-to-lovers story with a little bit of a spice alert, too!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.
Releasing 12th February, 2024
Courier by Zoe Rosi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Zoe Rosi’s thrillers so far, and Courier was no different, but unique in its way.
Bob is a courier who becomes infatuated with the haunted-looking face of a woman in a house where he makes deliveries. His infatuation leads him to become much more involved in her life than he should, as he begins to dream of a future and becoming her saviour. Something quite easy for a faceless delivery man who no one takes notice of.
Courier is a novella written in the first person, filled with twists and turns that keep a reader involved in the story from beginning to end. I have to say I felt quite sorry for Bob and his life, though I wouldn’t recommend the route he decides to take!
A well-written story about stalking and obsession and consequences.
I will definitely be paying more attention to our couriers in the future, that’s for sure!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Lighthouse Press for an ARC.
Releasing 30th January, 2024
So, tell me what you have been reading, and what caught your eye from the above!
But I Smile Anyway... 