Sometimes it’s hard to say the words.

After the death of her husband two years ago, Eve Warrington is ready to start again. But where on earth is she going to meet another soulmate that can match the man she lost? Bumping – literally – into her first love reignites a flame. Now Eve is worrying about getting too close. She couldn’t go through the heartache of losing someone else.

Eve’s daughter, Grace, still reeling from the break-up of a four-year relationship, is the opposite of her mum. She never wants to settle down again. But she does have something to prove at work. When she comes up with a brilliant idea for a community project to involve the people of her hometown, she’s annoyed to then see it handed over to someone else. Why is she always helping out, rather than running something?

Eve’s mother, Rose, is living alone. A dark part of her life ended when her husband, Harry, died, and although she won’t admit it to anyone, there was also a sense of relief. So she gets the shock of her life when a blast from the past tracks her down through the project Grace is working on.

One Letter is a story of first loves and second chances, and of overcoming grief, deceit and loneliness. Perfect for readers who enjoy Rachael Lucas, Hannah Lynn, Milly Johnson and Jill Mansell and Hannah Ellis.

A note from Marcie: One Letter is set in the small market town of Somerley. If you’ve read any of the other books in the series, you may meet some of the characters you loved from that story, but each Somerley novel can be read independently.

One Letter

by Marcie Steele

I absolutely love Marcie Steele’s books and I was so excited to read One Letter. I knew it would be a treat and I wasn’t wrong. It is a gorgeous story! Add it to your reading list. Honestly, you’ll love it!

I love the characters, I love the setting, I love how I always get swept along with the rollercoaster of emotions in every one of the books in this series.

I absolutely LOVED the idea of local residents writing letters about positive experiences in their lives and things they are grateful for. I love the sense of community in Somerley. Something I think we often lack nowadays, sadly.

I love that Grace, Eve, and Rose are three generations of the same family. All have suffered heartache and the loss of a long-term partner and all of them absolutely deserve to be happy again. I was rooting for all three of them.

I have to say Rose’s story really made me cry.

There isn’t anything I didn’t love about this book! I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Happy reading!

Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature!

On the first Friday of each month, I like to look back at the books I was reading the previous year during the same month.

Please do join in if you have the time, I’d love to see your posts 🙂

A big thank you to those who already join in regularly! xx

Here are my reviews from December 2022 + a link to previous December FBFs….

I.C.Y.M.I

Have you read any of the above?

The Pieces of Us 

by Caroline Montague 

The Pieces of Us was my most anticipated read of 2023 and I absolutely loved it!

The fact that it is set in the Potteries makes it even more special to me.

When we meet Marina and Hugh they are drowning in grief after losing their infant daughter. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain they must be suffering. At a time they need each other the most they are no longer communicating, and Marina feels that moving back to Hugh’s family home, Thorncliffe Hall, might be the only way their marriage will survive such a devastating loss. She seems to be both overwhelmed and underwhelmed with Thorncliffe Hall though.

However, finding a beautiful coffee pot on a trip to London gives Marina a new distraction. She soon finds herself determined to find those who designed and created it.

This is a dual-timeline story and I found myself completely swept up in Marina’s investigations as she discovers the links between the potters of the past and her husband’s family.

It is an emotional and captivating tale featuring places very familiar to me. I love it when I can picture exactly where the characters are! Characters who have been carefully thought out. It is clear how much the author cares about them. There are clever connections between the past and present, and a respectful insight into the history of the potteries.

It very much reminded me (in part) of the film, The Colour Room, which tells the story of Clarice Cliff.

It is the most beautifully written novel. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Blurb

Marina and Hugh were once madly in love. But after the loss of their beautiful little daughter, grief has created a distance between them that feels impossible to bridge. Marina knows leaving Italy is the only way they will be able to move on, but Thorncliffe Hall, Hugh’s family home in England, is so grey and unwelcoming.

Just when life feels like it may never regain colour, Marina and Hugh come across a striking china coffee pot in a London shop window, adorned with a fox flying through the night sky. The coffee pot comes attached with a mystery, one that is connected with Hugh’s own family many years ago.

By digging into the past, Marina is about to discover a story far beyond her wildest dreams. But will the past help her heal the present?

buy your copy here….

Happy reading!

MY CHILD HAS BEEN TAKEN.
AND I’VE BEEN GIVEN A CHOICE . . .
KILL A PATIENT ON THE OPERATING TABLE
OR LOSE MY SON FOREVER.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?

Do No Harm

by Jack Jordan 

My review

Wow! What a book!

Anna isn’t the most likable of characters, but I cannot begin to imagine being put in the position she finds herself in. As a mother though I can absolutely say that my son would always come above all else too, so her reaction to the situation is completely believable. Absolutely horrific circumstances, especially for a doctor who has taken an oath to do no harm. A genius idea for a book. I couldn’t wait to see how it would all pan out.

What a rollercoaster ride of a read!

Horrifying, emotional, uncomfortable, tense, heart-wrenching, jaw dropping….

I found it completely compelling, and I highly recommend it to all!

Buy now

Happy reading! 🙂

Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature!

On the first Friday of each month, I like to look back at the books I was reading the previous year during the same month.

Please do join in if you have the time, I’d love to see your posts 🙂

A big thank you to those who already join in regularly! xx

Here are my reviews from November 2022 + a link to previous November FBFs….

I.C.Y.M.I

Have you read any of the above?

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth … ?

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Book 1) 

by Holly Jackson 

My review

This book is my first ever Buddy Read with a group of Bookstagram friends and, although I failed spectacularly at reading it within the time frame, I have absolutely loved it! I totally get the hype!

Pip is an awesome character. I liked her immediately. We meet her five years on from the murder of fellow schoolgirl, Andie Bell. The whole town is convinced Andie’s boyfriend, Sal, was responsible for her death but Pip isn’t, and she’s determined to prove his innocence. She makes her investigation the subject of her EPQ. I love this! I love that an EPQ can be pretty much anything you want it to be. My daughter’s was on serial killers in the media and a friend of mine wrote and self-published a book for hers.

Anyway, Pip’s enthusiasm is infectious. I really, really wanted her to be right. Partially for the sake of her sanity. Also, for Ravi (Sal’s brother) and his parents. I can’t even imagine losing my son let alone in such horrific circumstances.

Little did Pip know of the danger she was putting herself and her family in by persisting with her project though. (Chapter 35 is particularly heartbreaking.)

This book is such a rollercoaster of emotions, and it is so full twists and turns I had no idea what I thought for the most part, but I was totally invested. It left me gobsmacked on more than one occasion.

I can’t recommend it highly enough and I’m looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy.

Happy reading! 🙂

Hi, and welcome to my Flashback Friday feature!

On the first Friday of each month, I like to look back at the books I was reading the previous year during the same month.

Please do join in if you have the time, I’d love to see your posts 🙂

A big thank you to those who already join in regularly! xx

Here are my reviews from October 2022 + a link to previous October FBFs….

I.C.Y.M.I

Have you read any of the above?