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All the Little Houses by May Cobb 

All the Little Houses

by May Cobb

May Cobb is a new to me author. I admit that All the Little Houses wasn’t on my radar until I won a copy via a giveaway.

Wow! It didn’t take me long to become addicted to this story.

I didn’t really know what to expect but I loved it. These people are (mostly) awful and not at all the type of folks you’d want as friends and/or neighbours, but they are highly entertaining to read about!

Nellie is a particularly nasty piece of work who always seems to get her own way as her parents are rich and influential in the community. Her mother, Charleigh, does whatever she can to make sure Nellie has ‘friends’ and a good social life. I’m not sure she’s really helping though and she seems to be perpetually terrified of what Nellie might be capable of.

None of the characters are particularly likeable, except for Jackson. I quite liked him and felt quite sorry for him a lot of the time. Jane too.

The others, oh my days! I’m quite disturbed by the fact that I’m sure there are real people like these lot out there in the real world. Their stories really do make for a captivating novel though.

Absolute escapism!

A story full of fascinating characters with ridiculous wealth and a sense of entitlement. Scandal, secrets, infidelity, jealousy. This story has it all. Full of intrigue and suspense. I look forward to reading more by this author.

** Many thanks to Noelle Holten for my paperback copy via her giveaway **

Adults can behave badly too…

It’s the mid-1980s in the tiny town of Longview, Texas. Nellie Anderson, the beautiful daughter of the Anderson family dynasty, has burst onto the scene. She always gets what she wants. What she can’t get for herself… well, that’s what her mother is for. Because Charleigh Andersen, blond, beautiful, and ruthlessly cunning, remembers all too well having to claw her way to the top. When she was coming of age on the poor side of East Texas, she was a loser, an outcast, humiliated, and shunned by the in-crowd, whose approval she’d so desperately thirsted for. When a prairie-kissed family moves to town, all trad wife, woodworking dad, wholesome daughter vibes, Charleigh’s entire self-made social empire threatens to crumble.

Who will be left standing when the dust settles?

From the author of The Hunting Wives comes a deliciously wicked new thriller about mean girls, mean moms, and the delicious secrets inside all the little houses.

Treat yourself….

Happy reading!

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59 Minutes by Holly Seddon

59 Minutes

by Holly Seddon 

59 Minutes was chosen as our January Buddy Read Book Club read and coincidently, I was lucky enough to win a copy via a giveaway over Christmas, so I had no reason not to join in.

What a rollercoaster of a read!

Told from the point of view of three women of different ages, living different lives in different parts of the country but all suddenly faced with the same trauma of being away from their loved ones/homes when they receive an alert from the government warning system about a nuclear missile due to hit the south of England in 59 minutes.

I can’t even imagine! It must be terrifying!

As I followed each of the women through their journey back to their nearest and dearest I felt their increasing panic. The increasing panic of those around them. Some trying to be kind and helpful, others just trying to fend for themselves. Disaster does often bring out the best in some people and the absolute worst in others. It’s scary how quickly some people resort to looting and losing all sense of respect for their community, and their neighbours. Although, I can understand that they are facing nuclear fallout and would be unlikely to be thinking rationally. As I said, I can’t even imagine. I’m not sure I want to imagine. It doesn’t bare thinking about does it, even though it is a very real threat to us all realistically. I live in hope of those in charge having the sense not to start throwing nuclear missiles around!

I can understand these women recognising the grand scheme of things as things fall apart around them. We are all guilty of complaining about the most unimportant things. It’s just human nature but when catastrophic things happen in life they tend to put things into perspective. At the same time, we learn to appreciate the little things in life which we should all be doing always, but we often forget to.

None of us can know how we would deal with such trauma unless we had to face it, but it’s interesting to think about how we hope we would react. I’d like to hope I wouldn’t resort to stealing and throwing others under the bus so to speak, but who knows. I know I would be panicking if I was elsewhere, away from my husband and children. I would absolutely want us to be together if the end was imminent. I wouldn’t want any of my loved ones to face it alone.

This is such a thought-provoking story. One which I am sure will stay with me and one I will talk about often. I did not foresee where the story would lead and end. A truly compelling read. Fast-paced with very short chapters which helped to propel the story forward. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend.

Great choice @x_charlieeexbooks_x

Read along with –

@afsa.ahmed

@beckyreadsx

@erin_reads_alot

@fiction_book_reviews

@katies_cosy_reading_corner

@life.with.afsa

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@northyorkshirereader

@read.crochet.coffee

@yorkshire.bookworm

**Many thanks to Stu Cummins for my paperback copy via his giveaway**

If you knew you had fifty-nine minutes until everything and everyone you love would be lost forever, what would you do with that time?

It’s an ordinary evening. People are coming home from work, cooking dinner for their children, cuddling on sofas with their lovers. And then the message arrives, shattering everyone’s worlds:

Missiles are set to destroy England in fifty-nine minutes. Everyone should seek immediate shelter.

59 minutes follows the journey of three women trying to make it home to and protect their families. The journeys should be simple, but with a lost schoolchild seeking help, a teenage daughter suddenly going missing, and dangerous criminals on the prowl, there is peril at every corner.

Happy reading!

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Nightblind (Dark Iceland Book 5) by Ragnar Jónasson (Author), Quentin Bates (Translator) 

Nightblind (Dark Iceland Book 5)

by Ragnar Jónasson (Author), Quentin Bates (Translator) 

I have absolutely loved book five of the Dark Iceland series! I love the setting and the cast of characters is quite diverse but they’re (mostly) quite easy to warm to. I feel like I get to know the main characters that little bit more with each addition to the series, which I love. I’m extremely curious to find out more about Ari Thór Arason’s father and what really happened to him.

I didn’t find the atmosphere of this book quite as oppressive as the previous books in the series. I’m not sure if that’s just because I feel used to being there now.

In Nightblind Ari Thór and Tomas are faced with the shooting of one of their own fellow police officers. Is it a targeted attack or was he in the wrong place at the wrong time? Either way, this one is personal. A complicated case for anyone, but especially for one recovering from the flu, with a new baby at home, and a rocky relationship to deal with at the same time.

I couldn’t wait to find out which direction this story would take and I was once again shocked, and saddened, once I discovered the truth.

Brilliant!

I’m looking forward to reading Winterkill.

THE FIFTH INSTALMENT IN THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING DARK ICELAND SERIES

OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD

When a police officer is murdered in the dead of night, in the isolated Icelandic town of Siglufjörður, Ari Thór Arason faces a complex investigation that takes him back to the past, and some sinister secrets…

‘A modern take on an Agatha Christie-style mystery’ Ian Rankin

‘Bitingly contemporary in setting and tone’ Sunday Express

‘Seductive … Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully’ Ann Cleeves

________________

Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village on the northernmost tip of Iceland, accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.

Ari Thór Arason: a local policeman, whose tumultuous past and uneasy relationships with the villagers continue to haunt him.

The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by the murder of a policeman – shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark arctic winter closing in, it falls to Ari Thór to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor, and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik, where someone is being held against their will.

Then a mysterious young woman moves to the area, on the run from something she dare not reveal, and it becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all.

Dark, chilling and complex, Nightblind is an extraordinary thriller from an undeniable new talent.

Happy reading!

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Whiteout (Dark Iceland Book 4) by Ragnar Jónasson (Author), Quentin Bates (Translator) 

Whiteout (Dark Iceland Book 4) 

by Ragnar Jónasson (Author), Quentin Bates (Translator) 

Whiteout is book four in the brilliant Dark Iceland series. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the books in this series so far and I’ve already started book five!

In this book Ari Thor & Tomas find themselves investigating the suspicious death of a young woman, right before Christmas. It’s assumed she has committed suicide, but Ari Thor isn’t convinced and is determined to find out the truth despite likely having to sacrifice a proper Christmas with his very pregnant fiancé. Something isn’t quite adding up and the more he delves in to this case the more he becomes convinced she didn’t jump.

Another fast-paced crime thriller set in a dark, oppressive corner of Iceland. More fascinating characters and a plot that had me suspecting everyone and second guessing everything. As usual I was completely wrong and the story took a sharp turn in a direction I wasn’t expecting. Brilliant!

Looking forward to getting properly stuck in to book five now all the Christmas socialising is over….

Two days before Christmas, a young woman is found dead beneath the cliffs of the deserted village of Kálfshamarvík.

Did she jump, or did something more sinister take place beneath the lighthouse and the abandoned old house on the remote rocky outcrop?
With winter closing in and the snow falling relentlessly, Ari Thór Arason discovers that the victim’s mother and young sister also lost their lives in this same spot, twenty-five years earlier.

As the dark history and its secrets of the village are unveiled, and the death toll begins to rise, the Siglufjordur detectives must race against the clock to find the killer, before another tragedy takes place.

Dark, chilling and complex, Whiteout is a haunting, atmospheric and stunningly plotted thriller from one of Iceland’s bestselling crime writers.

I.C.Y.M.I

Snowblind (Dark Iceland Book 1) by Ragnar Jónasson (Author) Quentin Bates (Translator) @ragnarjo @OrendaBooks
Blackout (Dark Iceland Book 2) by Ragnar Jónasson (Author), Quentin Bates (Translator)
Rupture (Dark Iceland Book 3) by Ragnar Jónasson (Author) @ragnarjo Quentin Bates (Translator) @OrendaBooks

Happy reading!

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Murder Before Evensong by Reverend Richard Coles 

Murder Before Evensong

by Reverend Richard Coles

Murder Before Evensong has been on my TBR for a while so I was chuffed when it was chosen as our Buddy Read Book Club read for December.

I’m not sure what I expected, but it’s a slow burn, cosy crime story with quite a sad conclusion. I really enjoyed it overall. At the beginning there isn’t much drama other than if, and when, they will finally install a toilet in the church. As a church goer, and a church treasurer for over eleven years, I found some of these characters very amusing and totally relatable. Some people really do think that they have their own pew and God forbid anyone else sits there or tries to change absolutely anything!

The story ramps up a bit when a regular parishioner is found dead in the church by the Rector. This I definitely can’t relate to, thankfully! From here on in the story becomes much more suspenseful and I was intrigued to find out who, in this quiet little place, might be a murderer.

There are some interesting characters throughout this story. Daniel’s mother amused me. His brother couldn’t be any more different to him. I did wonder where his story might lead.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series at some point.

Good choice, Lucie 😊

Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton, where he lives alongside his widowed mother – opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey – and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda.

When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in the church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village.

And then Anthony Bowness – cousin to Bernard de Floures, patron of Champton – is found dead at the back of the church. As the police moves in and the bodies start piling up, Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his community together . . . and catch a killer.

Happy reading!

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Behind Her Smile by Caroline England @CazEngland

Behind Her Smile

by Caroline England 

Behind Her Smile is an incredibly tense read. I could just feel that there was more than meets the eye to this story and that it was going to take a disturbing turn at some point. I couldn’t wait to find out how!

It’s a difficult book to review as I don’t want to give anything away, but I was absolutely gripped, as I expected to be with another one of Caroline’s books.

If you love a psychological crime thriller with intriguing characters, complicated relationships, both family and romantic, an extremely clever, twisty plot full of suspense, deceit, love, loss, heart-breaking sadness, and jaw dropping shocks then you will love this book!

I can’t recommend it highly enough.

An easy five stars for me!

**Many thanks to Caroline for my epub review copy**

Buried secrets are dangerous.
Unearthing them might be deadly …

Laurie Dunn has returned to her childhood attic bedroom and her old nightmares have come rushing back. Terrorised by a client-related mugging, her job as a criminal solicitor causes more problems than solutions.

Finn Ballentine yearns for a fresh start, but even the glossy façade of his new law firm can’t protect him from the past he’s running from.

After a disturbing remark by her confused father, Laurie joins forces with Finn to uncover dark truths. But the long-buried secrets they unearth are laced with danger for them both.

Happy reading!

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The Blitz Secret (John Cook, book 3) by Stephen Ronson @Stephen_Ronson #NetGalley

The Blitz Secret (John Cook, book 3) 

by Stephen Ronson 

I was very much looking forward to reading The Blitz Secret having really enjoyed books one and two in this series.

John Cook is a brilliant, no-nonsense character. A bloke I would definitely want on my side. He reminds me of Reacher. I picture Alan Ritchson when I read these books.

In this book we see Cook spending most of his time in London. Now, I didn’t live through the blitz, but I feel like I did after reading this book. I’m glad I really didn’t. It must have been terrifying. I was particularly disturbed by the cutting of corners where building air raid shelters was concerned. I would not be at all surprised if that actually happened!

I was mortified by the behaviours of some of the characters in this book. People who should have been safe to trust. It just goes to show, you never know what might go on behind closed doors. What Ruby goes through is nothing short of horrific!

I’m impressed by Cook’s determination to succeed in everything he does. He’s like a dog with a bone who won’t let go. I admire this so much, as so many other people would take the easy way out and just give up at the first hurdle. He will not rest until he gets satisfactory results. A man on a mission!

Lady Margaret is brave. I couldn’t do what she does. I’d be useless!

There is so much tension throughout this book, I don’t think I relaxed once. Fast paced and full of suspense it kept me on the edge of my seat and the ending left me well and truly intrigued for book four!

**Many thanks to the author and publisher for my review copy via NetGalley**

I.C.Y.M.I

The Last Line by Stephen Ronson @Stephen_Ronson
The Berlin Agent (John Cook, Book 2) by Stephen Ronson @Stephen_Ronson #NetGalley

Happy reading!

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Past Mistakes (Detective Allie Shenton Gritty Crime Thrillers Book 8) by Mel Sherratt @writermels

Past Mistakes (Detective Allie Shenton Gritty Crime Thrillers Book 8)

by Mel Sherratt 

Allie Shenton is back!! I absolutely love this series so I was very excited to learn there would be a book eight. I only wish I had read it sooner.

I had so many mixed feelings about this story. Imagine being sixteen years old and jailed for something you didn’t do. I can’t even imagine how that might affect someone’s mental health and general outlook on life. My heart went out to teenage Jamie, especially when he realises he is going to lose his Mum too. However, as much as I understand his anger and rage, his revenge plans are brutal. It would have been lovely to have seen him turn his life around after his release and live his best life. Show his so-called friends from back then that he wasn’t going to let them ruin his life any further. I realise this is so easy for me to say though and it also wouldn’t make as dramatic a storyline. Lol!

A woman is attacked in her home. A man is murdered in his own home, and another man is stabbed. Detective Allie Shenton and her team soon work out what is happening and have their work cut out to find the culprit before he gets to anyone else. I was rooting for them the whole time and although I had little sympathy for those who lied in the past no-one deserves to be murdered in their own home.

This is such a fast-paced crime thriller featuring a perpetrator who knows exactly what he’s doing as he’s had a long time to plan things. I could barely keep up! I thought I had it sussed though, and I did to a certain extent, but there are moments throughout that I absolutely did not see coming! My heart was in my mouth on more than one occasion and just when I thought it was over, BAM, another jaw-dropping shock. One that really had me panicking!

Just brilliant! I loved it! I can’t wait for book nine!

** Many thanks to Mel Sherratt for my digital review copy **

#TeamSherratt

They left him to rot, but now he’s back for revenge.Jamie Sanderson walked out of prison with a score to settle. Fifteen years later, he’s back in his hometown and it isn’t long before the bodies start piling up. A man stabbed in an alley. Another found dead in his own home. A woman barely clinging to life. Someone is working through a bloody list, and nothing will stand in their way.

Detective Allie Shenton and her team know who they’re hunting but finding him is another matter. With every day that passes, the danger grows for the people he will come after. And then the worst happens.

As the investigation stretches the team to their limits, Allie faces a brutal reminder that the past never really lets go. Because someone comes for her, and survival is no longer guaranteed.

Past Mistakes is the eighth novel in the bestselling Allie Shenton series from the multi-million selling crime writer, Mel Sherratt, the author of The Estate Series and Grace Allendale books.

Treat yourself!

Happy reading!

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The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen (Author), David Hackston (Translator) 

The Winter Job

by Antti Tuomainen (Author), David Hackston (Translator) 

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I started reading The Winter Job, but I really enjoyed it!

Antii Tuomainen is a new-to-me author, and I like his writing style.

Ilmari Nieminen takes on a one-off job to deliver a sofa to earn enough money to buy his daughter the piano he has promised her for Christmas. What could possibly go wrong!?

Ilmari is a likable character, and his journey turns out to be far more eventful than he could have possibly imagined. He doesn’t expect to bump into an old friend who ends up tagging along and he certainly doesn’t expect to find himself being followed. Turns out there’s more to this sofa than meets the eye and there are others who want it too. He is determined to deliver it to the destination he has been given though otherwise he won’t get paid and his daughter won’t get her piano. He’s a recently divorced father who wants to fulfil his promise to his daughter. Woe betide anyone who tries to get in his way.

Set in Finland in 1982 this is a brilliant story, full of suspense, and peppered with dark humour. I was rooting for Ilamari the whole way through. The ending really made me smile.

** Many thanks to Orenda Books for my digital review copy **

Sofas, secrets and a snowbound road to trouble…

Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – he’s desperate.

A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.

With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.

That’s when Ilmari realises that he is transporting something truly special.

And that’s when Ilmari realises he might be in serious trouble…

A darkly funny and unexpectedly moving thriller about friendship, love and death – The Winter Job tears through the frozen landscape of northern Finland in a beat-up van with bad steering, worse timing, and everything to lose…

Treat yourself

Happy reading!

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Filthy Rich Temptation (Filthy Rich Billionaires Book 1) by Rachael Stewart @rach_b52 @BoldwoodBooks

Filthy Rich Temptation (Filthy Rich Billionaires Book 1)

by Rachael Stewart 

WOW! What a story this is!

It’s probably a good job my husband doesn’t read my book reviews because I think I love Theo. I fell in love with him in chapter one. He’s just the most delicious character. I defy anyone to resist his charms!

Theo is a self-made billionaire, but this is far from the focus of this story. It’s barely mentioned really, although there are obvious nods to it such as him living in a London penthouse apartment overlooking the Thames, and owning a beach house in Pembrokeshire with a live-in housekeeper. He’s a modest character though, and he’s trying his best to support his best friend by helping her younger sister and her three-year-old daughter after fleeing an abusive relationship. The problem is, he has been attracted to Sadie for longer than he cares to admit. How is he supposed to live in such close proximity to her and keep his feelings under control!?

Sadie has always carried a torch for Theo and eventually makes her feelings quite clear, making her so much more difficult for Theo to resist….

The way Theo is with Sadie reminds me very much of how my husband is with me, which is why I think I am completely besotted with him. The chemistry between these two is off the charts! I hope they’re still the same 26 years later as we are.

With scorching scenes (hot is an understatement!) as well as heart-meltingly romantic ones I absolutely loved Theo’s and Sadie’s story. They have their stumbling blocks along the way, of course, but they get there in the end and that’s the most important thing. Who doesn’t love a happy ending!?

I adored this book and will have no problem recommending to anyone and everyone.

** I won a paperback copy of Filthy Rich Temptation in a recent giveaway. Thank you to Rachael Stewart and Boldwood Books **

Theo

Making my first billion? Easy. Surviving Sadie — and her three-year-old — moving in? Pure torture. She’s my best friend’s little sister, the one girl I should never touch. Especially after that reckless kiss seven years ago…the kiss that ruined everything.

Now she’s here, under my roof, in every corner of my thoughts. Vulnerable. Off-limits. And so beautiful it hurts. I promised myself I’d protect her, keep my distance. But every laugh, every accidental touch, makes it harder to remember why I ever said no.

Sadie

I ran to Theo for safety, but the moment I walked through his door, I knew I wasn’t just in danger from my ex—I was in danger of falling again. He thinks he’s protecting me, keeping his distance. But every smouldering look says otherwise.

And every night, I wonder: what if I kissed him again? He thinks he’s just helping. But he doesn’t see how he’s rewiring my heart—how my daughter already adores him. I’m supposed to be surviving, not falling. But I know what I want…him. His hands. His mouth. His body. Even if it’s the one thing he swore I couldn’t have…

Treat yourself

Happy reading!