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9/7/2019 0 Comments

Review: About That Night

About That Night by Elaine Bedell
Page length: 384 pages
Genre: Crime Fiction, Women's Fiction  
Publication Date: 11 July 2019
Publisher: HQ
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  4.5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)
 
ABOUT ABOUT THAT NIGHT
 
Sometimes it only takes one night to change everything…
 
Elizabeth Place might have been jilted on her wedding day one year ago, but at least she’s still got her brilliant job producing one of the biggest shows on TV!
 
But when larger-than-life TV host, Ricky Clough, dies live on air, her life is sent spinning out of control. And with foul play suspected, the spotlight is turned firmly on his colleagues – especially Hutch, the man desperate for Ricky’s job and whom Elizabeth is secretly dating.
 
As her world comes crashing down around her, Elizabeth realises that perhaps the only person she can really trust, is herself…
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My Review

A brilliant read. Television becomes less glamour when you go behind the scenes. Elizabeth's job is to make Saturday must-see television, and Ricky – the star of the show – knows as the talent he can do what he wants. When he collapses on screen, an assumed heart attack turns out to be more suspicious and the police have some difficult questions to ask. I was double guessing who might have been involved in Ricky's death but wouldn't have got close to the ending. Bravo!
 
A very accomplished debut from Ms Bedell.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
 
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10/5/2019 0 Comments

Review: The Flatshare

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Page length: 336 pages
Genre: Romance, Romantic Comedy
Publication Date: 10 April 2019
Publisher: Quercus
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT THE FLATSHARE
 
Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met...
 
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they're crazy, but it's the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy's at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.
 
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven't met yet, they're about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window...

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My Review:

About to be homeless Tiffy is desperate for a cheap place. Is sharing a flat with Leon the answer to her prayers? It's an unorthodox idea – Tiffy has the flat evenings and weekends, Leon has it daytimes.
 
An absolutely brilliant book. I was expecting a will-they or won't-they storyline but there was so much more. Gerty the no-nonsense barrister and Tiffy's strange writers and colleagues. And Leon's brother. All the characters were so real and have stayed with me for days.
 
The ending nearly had me in tears.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
 
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29/4/2019 0 Comments

Review: Cape May

Cape May by Chip Cheek
Page length: 257 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction    
Publication Date: 30 April 2019 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)
 
ABOUT CAPE MAY
 
September 1957
 
Henry and Effie, young newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon. It's the end of the season and the town is deserted.
As they tentatively discover each other, they begin to realize that everyday married life might be disappointingly different from their happily-ever-after fantasy.
 
Just as they get ready to cut the trip short, a decadent and glamorous set suddenly sweep them up into their drama - Clara, a beautiful socialite who feels her youth slipping away; Max, a wealthy playboy and Clara's lover; and Alma, Max's aloof and mysterious half-sister.
 
The empty beach town becomes their playground, and as they sneak into abandoned summer homes, go sailing, walk naked under the stars, make love, and drink a great deal of gin, Henry and Effie slip from innocence into betrayal, with irrevocable consequences that reverberate through the rest of their lives...
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My Review:

From the first chapter I was hooked. Henry and Effie arrive in a deserted holiday town out of season. They consummate their marriage in a quick perfunctory manner and head out to see what little is on offer in the deserted holiday town.
 
They get to know each other, properly, the longest they've spent alone together. And start to discover and enjoy each other's bodies as any honeymooning couple.
 
Effie is disappointed that she isn't able to show Henry the Cape May she remembers. When Effie and Henry bumps into the overbearing Clara, a gorgeous socialite from the city, they join Clara's party scene, their Southern morals are loosened by the hard liquor and decadent living. They decide to extend their stay, to unexpected consequences. How will the Christian couple keep up with the partying? And can they ever return to their sleepy town in the south?
 
The story was sublime, and was beautifully told.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
 
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10/3/2019 0 Comments

Review: Cherry

Cherry by Nico Walker
Page length: 336 pages
Genre: Crime Fiction, Thriller  
Publication Date: 28 February 2019
Publisher: Vintage Digital
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  4.5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT CHERRY
 
Cleveland, Ohio, 2003. A young man is just a college freshman when he meets Emily. They share a passion for Edward Albee and ecstasy and fall hard and fast in love. But soon Emily has to move home to Elba, New York, and he flunks out of school and joins the army. Desperate to keep their relationship alive, they marry before he ships out to Iraq. But as an army medic, he is unprepared for the grisly reality that awaits him. His fellow soldiers smoke; they huff computer duster; they take painkillers; they watch porn. And many of them die. He and Emily try to make their long-distance marriage work, but when he returns from Iraq, his PTSD is profound, and the drugs on the street have changed. The opioid crisis is beginning to swallow up the Midwest. Soon he is hooked on heroin, and so is Emily. They attempt a normal life, but with their money drying up, he turns to the one thing he thinks he could be really good at – robbing banks.
 
Hammered out on a prison typewriter, Cherry marks the arrival of a raw, bleakly hilarious, and surprisingly poignant voice straight from the dark heart of America.
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My Review:

There are few novels that make you want to dip your toe into the murky waters of crime, but this is one of them. The prologue starts with a heist. And then chapter one goes back in time to the protagonist's freshman years. Politically the message was strong throughout the middle of the book set in Iraq. Why are we sending young men to war?
 
The last third was set is the US after the long stint in Iraq, and seen through the eyes of PTSD suffering junkie. A lot of his behaviour was reprehensible yet it was told with such candor and charm!
 
I could see this being made into a television series or a film.
 
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
 
0 Comments

13/1/2019 0 Comments

Review: The Six Loves of Billy Binns

The Six Loves of Billy Binns
Page length: 480 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: 24 January 2019
Publisher: Tinder Press
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  4.5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)


 
ABOUT THE SIX LOVES OF BILLY BINNS
 
I remember my dreams but not where they start.
Further back, I recall some of yesterday and the day before that. Then everything goes into a haze.
Fragments of memories come looming back like red London buses in a pea-souper.
Time plays funny tricks these days.
I wait for the next memory. I wait and I wait.
 
At 117 years old, Billy Binns is the oldest man in Europe and he knows his time is almost up. But Billy has a final wish: he wants to remember what love feels like one last time. As he looks back at the relationships that have shaped his flawed life - and the events that shaped the century - he recalls a life full of hope, mistakes, heartbreak and, above all, love.
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My Review:

There is nothing more satisfying than finishing a good book. The Six Loves of Billy Binns is a beautiful tale that pivots around the small decisions that prove to have momentous consequences.
 
It did take me a few chapters to get into the story, which starts in 1900 and journeys the life and loves of the 117-year life of Billy Binns. The story flits between Billy Binn's history and current day in a retirement home where he tries to remember his lost loves. 
 
An exceptional debut. Mr Lumsden beautifully weaves Billy Binn's journey with historical and poignant moments of the twentieth century. He brings Shepherd's Bush to life. So much so you can almost smell the fish market.
 
It is heartbreaking, uplifting, and altogether inspiring.
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review. 
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