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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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Safe at Home by Mel Sherratt 

Safe at Home

by Mel Sherratt 

Safe at Home is one of Mel Sherratt’s standalone novels. I have loved every book she has published, and this one has been no exception.

Clara has had a troubled past and she battles daily with her inner demons. She just wants to be loved and accepted. To find a home where she feels safe and secure. To do some good in the world, so she can finally feel good about herself. This was never going to be easy for Clara though and my heart went out to her, especially as I got to know her better. She’s done things she’s not proud of and paid for them. I really liked her though. I was rooting for her to find peace and the life she was craving. It’s understandable that others might be wary though when they learn of her past.

Safe at Home is a highly emotional read, featuring characters you could so easily have living in your street. Struggling in ways you might never know. Mel Sherratt always manages to write flawed characters you can’t help but like, and can easily empathise with, despite what they might have done.

Character driven psychological fiction at its finest!

I was glued to my kindle, as I always am with Mel’s books.

** Many thanks to Mel Sherratt for my kindle review copy. Proud to be part of #TeamSherratt **

She just wants to belong. But some scars run too deep.

Clara’s past is never far behind—but this time, she’s determined to outrun it. Starting over as a support worker, she finds unexpected refuge in Cedric House, the home of kind-hearted widow Roberta. It feels like a second chance. Maybe even a home.

But Clara is no stranger to damage—nor to the anger simmering just beneath the surface. She’s trying: therapy, anger management, staying out of trouble.

Then everything begins to crack. A workplace confrontation. A neighbourly dispute. And the fragile peace she’s fought so hard for starts to slip through her fingers.

Safe at Home is a raw and moving portrait of a woman on the edge—craving connection, battling inner demons, and trying to prove that even the most broken people deserve a place to belong.

Happy reading!

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Will Audible – Unabridged by Will Smith (Author, Narrator), Mark Manson (Author), Penguin Audio (Publisher)

Will 

Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Will Smith (Author, Narrator), Mark Manson (Author), Penguin Audio (Publisher)

Will has been waiting patiently in my Audible library since December 2021 (I listen to them in order of purchase) and this is a long one (over fifteen hours), so it’s taken me a while to get through. I have thoroughly enjoyed it though!

I love Will Smith. I LOVED The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I love his music, and I love his films. I was interested to listen to “Will” and I wasn’t disappointed. This is a very frank and honest account of his life from childhood onwards. It’s quite the eye-opener at times!

Sometimes sad, touching, emotional, but more often than not hilarious. Highly entertaining!

I recommend to any fan.

Narrated by Will Smith.

One of the most dynamic and globally recognised entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had.

Will Smith’s transformation from a fearful child in a tense West Philadelphia home to one of the biggest pop stars of his era and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, with a string of box office successes that will likely never be broken, is an epic tale of inner transformation and outer triumph, and Will tells it astonishingly well. But it’s only half the story.

Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn’t see it that way: they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn’t signed up for. It turned out Will Smith’s education wasn’t nearly over.

This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multimillion-copy best seller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one exceptional man mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world’s biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.

Happy reading/listening!

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To Catch a Butterfly by T M Payne @Tinap66Payne

To Catch a Butterfly

by T M Payne 

Version 1.0.0

Stevie Buchanan has a difficult upbringing, at least where her mother is concerned. She has a lovely relationship with her dad, but her mum is very cold and sometimes cruel to Stevie. This made it a difficult read at times as I just wanted to jump in there and give Stevie a hug. There seemed to be absolutely no reason for the mother’s behaviour towards Stevie other than perhaps her being jealous of the relationship she has with her dad.

Things go from bad to worse when there’s a work accident which leaves Stevie devastated and her mother bereft. Refusing help or comfort from anyone other than alcohol she shuts herself and Stevie away from everyone and poor Stevie must bear the brunt.

As Stevie becomes a young adult, she discovers a family secret, and her mother can no longer control her in the same way, so off she goes in search of the person who turned her life and the lives of her family upside down….

I absolutely did not expect the twists this story took, or the truths Stevie discovers. It certainly explains, although does not condone, her mother’s behaviour.

My heart went out to Stevie and all she has had to endure. I understood her decision at the end, as well as her doubts. She’s a brilliant character. This is a brilliant, character driven, story.

It’s a shame it’s no longer available to purchase because I very much recommend it.

I have no idea how long it must have been on Kindle for, but I am glad I finally read it.

I have found the author though and added book one of a more recent series of theirs to my Wishlist.

Stevie Buchanan’s family has a secret. Catherine Stone has a secret. Stevie knows nothing. Catherine knows everything. Set between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, this is the story of an innocent life thrown into the deep. When their worlds collide and the real truth is laid bare, no one could have imagined how very dark the secret really is. As Stevie grows from a curious little girl into a strong young woman, the secret is revealed. And so her journey begins. A journey that takes her to Catherine’s door.

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The Lost (Paula Maguire 1) by Claire McGowan @inkstainsclaire

The Lost (Paula Maguire 1)

by Claire McGowan 

Wow! What a brilliant start to a series. I have thoroughly enjoyed The Lost as part of a buddy read with some of my lovely Bookstagram friends. It isn’t a series I was aware of before so I’m glad it was brought to my attention.

Paula Maguire is a forensic psychologist from Northern Ireland but has been living in London for some years now. She has, however, been called back to her hometown to help with the investigations of two missing local girls. Have they simply run away? Could there be a serial killer on the loose? Are there any links to missing girls from years before who were never found? There are a lot of unanswered questions for the team to find answers to and fast.

This is a fast-paced police procedural featuring a forensic psychologist who sometimes ignores orders in her quest to find the truth. Paula Maguire is an interesting and likeable character who has her own backstory to tell. I like that we learn more about her past as the story progresses. I love her passion for her job and her determination to help these girls.

This is a story full of suspense and intriguing characters. It kept me guessing throughout and keen to find out how it was all going to end.

Shocking, heart-breaking, but brilliant!

I have already bought book 2!

** I bought the paperback edition of The Lost on the 27th of December for the purposes of our buddy read **

Not everyone who’s missing is lost

Hard-hitting and unputdownable, THE LOST follows Forensic psychologist Maguire back to her hometown in the search for two missing girls. This exhilarating introduction to the Paula Maguire series by Claire McGowan is sure to grip fans of Elly Griffiths and LJ Ross.

‘Claire McGowan is a knockout new talent’ – Lee Child

When two teenage girls go missing along the Irish border, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire has to return to the hometown she left years before. Swirling with rumour and secrets, the town is gripped by fear of a serial killer. But the truth could be even darker.

Not everyone who’s lost wants to be found

Surrounded by people and places she tried to forget, Paula digs into the cases as the truth twists further away. What’s the link with two other disappearances from 1985? And why does everything lead back to the town’s dark past- including the reasons her own mother went missing years before?

Nothing is what it seems

As the shocking truth is revealed, Paula learns that sometimes, it’s better not to find what you’ve lost…

What readers are saying about The Lost:

‘Well written and keeps you guessing. The best book I have read this year’

‘Fantastic read. Had me gripped from start to finish – I just couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended’

‘Compelling and thrilling. Claire McGowan has a clever ease of storytelling that draws you in and leaves you wanting more‘

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Paula-Maguire-gripping-explosive-ebook/dp/B00ABLJ37E/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1APRGMGZ48GCD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9dREvwA9ehKgTipkaz2N8yF_Up9D-5jvistfpMezPGV7qpaRkJQiPZvOA0lPOObHzeP47dTeAQl2lvAT8FoJnZFAaxnAKxJeeCLmQjJXIcjKb22P01IOqkpHlL-NtgMckL1PALmvOVprOaOsnyjL2_lHFwoWZzbK2koBnQSqcAJ1K4_wI5MxE_8-NQFVN_vpXD2VOGitYwR_lvGwRMUnefgUDQpVYGH7WD4Kb8CLhNQ._0gwxgGxfdlHE0n_kcjAnJISpRB1RoldAR6_l8ndu_M&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+lost+claire+mcgowan&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1736695571&sprefix=the+lost+clai%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-1

Happy reading!

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Blood Feud (Kerry Casey Book 1) by Anna Smith 

Blood Feud (Kerry Casey Book 1) 

by Anna Smith 

This book is right up my street and an excellent start to a series. I soon found myself immersed in the criminal world that Kerry Casey soon finds herself the head of.

So much goes on in this first instalment I could barely keep up! There are lots of interesting characters, some not as likeable as others which is to be expected given the lives they lead and the ‘work’ they partake in.

Kerry is a feisty but likeable character. She didn’t like the way her brother ran things and is keen to get the family business back to operating within the law, as per her father’s wishes, but this can’t happen overnight and there are some dangerous people in her way….

A story of family, friendship, crime, and revenge. I loved it and I’ve already started book two in the series, Fight Back.

They came for her family. Now she’s coming for them. This nail-biting thriller introduces Glasgow’s newest gangland mistress, Kerry Casey.

Kerry Casey thought she’d made a life away from the dirty dealings of her gangster family. Her father wanted to make them legit – her brother Mickey had other ideas, and now it’s got him killed. When Mickey’s funeral turns into a bloodbath at the hands of a group of anonymous shooters and Kerry’s mother is killed in the crossfire, Kerry finds herself at the head of the Casey family, and desperate for revenge.

Running a crime empire is not a job she ever asked for, and not one she wants, but Kerry is determined to fulfil her father’s wishes and make the Caseys go straight. First, though, she will find the men who murdered her mother, and she will take them down, no matter what it costs.

Happy reading!

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Beautiful and Terrible Things: A Novel by S.M. Stevens 

Beautiful and Terrible Things

by S.M. Stevens 

Beautiful and Terrible Things is extremely relevant to the world we live in today. It’s about a diverse group of friends, each with their own struggles, principles, and wishes for a better world for all.

Charley is new to the group. I love that she manages a bookstore and lives above it. How cool is that! Her anxieties are understandable given her difficult past. Xander introduces her to his friendship group and, at first, she starts to relax in their company. They are mostly a good bunch, although I wouldn’t necessarily condone some of Xander’s behaviour. I love that they take her under their wing though. My heart goes out to her when she realises her life might be about to be turned upside down. I was rooting for her the whole time and hoping for a positive outcome.

I do have to mention that this is the first book I’ve read with a gender-neutral character. Sunny is a very easy to like character and I have absolutely no problem with anyone living their life however they wish to, but when I read they/them I automatically imagine more than one person (as per definition). I did have to keep reminding myself that it was just Sunny, and I can’t pretend that it didn’t interrupt the flow of the story for me a little bit at times. I imagine it’s something I will get used to though as I’m sure it will become more commonplace in books.

I think younger readers especially will relate to these characters. They have an important story to tell, not least about the importance and power of friendship.

** Many thanks to S.M. Stevens for my ARC in exchange for my honest review **

Charley Byrne isn’t really living. At age 29, she hunkers down in her apartment above the bookstore she manages, afraid of a 7-year curse. Then quirky activist Xander Wallace lures her out of social exile with the prospect of friendship and romance. Charley joins Xander’s circle of friends diverse in their heritage, race, gender and sexual orientation. She thrives, even leaving her comfort zone to join protests in a city struggling with social justice ills.

But the new friendships bring back-to-back betrayals that threaten the bookstore—Charley’s haven—and propel her into a dangerous depression. Can her friends save the store? And Charley?

Beautiful and Terrible Things offers a compelling portrait of modern American life in a major city with its vibrant culture and rampant social issues. At once enlightening and entertaining, it reminds us that friendship has the power to validate, destroy, transform, and save lives.

I.C.Y.M.I.

The Wallace House of Pain: A Novelette by S.M. Stevens @SMStevens17

Happy reading!

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The Long Way Home by Audrey Howard 

The Long Way Home

by Audrey Howard 

The Long Way Home is a beautifully written book. The first by this author for me but hopefully not the last.

Set in Liverpool in the early 1900s we meet Amy when she is just ten years old and doing a grand job of looking after her mother and her ten siblings whilst her father goes out to work. Her mother is ill, with tuberculosis, and is unable to leave her bed often. Can you even imagine living like that these days. Thirteen people to one bedroom! People seemed to just get on with things in those days, doing whatever they had to do to survive. No such thing as universal credit or such like back then. You worked whenever work was available, made the best of what you had, and older children helped to bring up the younger children. Everyone mucked in. Despite this they quite often came across as happier and closer as a family.

Unfortunately, Pa’s wealthy sister, Aunt Zillah is unable to carry a child to term so she decides she is adopting Amy and plans to bring her up as her own. With his wife now in hospital and him having to work to keep food on the table, Amy’s Pa allows it as Zillah has promised him money to move to better housing and support for the other ten children.

Amy is understandably traumatised by being dragged from the family she loves, to a massive unfamiliar house, by her aunt who blatantly doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body. My heart broke for her, and I prayed she might escape the claws of her aunt one way or another.

I was engrossed in her story as she grows into a beautiful young lady who never gives up hope of finding her family again. I love how her relationship with Joe grows as they grow. However, Zillah has other ideas and what she puts Amy through at only sixteen years old is horrific.

Zillah’s husband, Caleb, is a much more likeable character. I’m so glad Amy has him to help protect her from his heartless wife. Whatever he saw in Zillah I’ll never know, but quite often in those days people of wealth married for money and the hope of suitable heirs rather than for love didn’t they. I can’t even imagine.

Amy’s story is one of true resilience. With her aunt, an abusive husband, and a war to contend with it seems as though happiness is impossible, but true love always wins.

There are so many beautiful characters throughout this book, including some of the staff at the Seymour home (which reminded me of Downton Abbey). It’s such a rollercoaster of emotion and is so full of love. Love for family, love between friends, and fighting for the love of your life. I absolutely loved it!

** I read the paperback edition of The Long Way Home. I have no idea where I bought it from though. It’s been on my bookshelf for years. Published in 2008, I assume I bought it from a book sale some time ago **

Amy Pearson’s family is desperately poor – even by the standards of Edwardian Liverpool – but they have each other. Until Amy is torn from her home by her rich aunt, a woman obsessed by religion and snobbery who wants a girl she can mould as she wishes. Clever and pretty, ten-year-old Amy is perfect for her purposes. It is the beginning of a long journey for Amy, as she desperately searches for the family she lost, and a home where she can be free at last from her aunt’s possessive tyranny. But she will have to endure a forced marriage and a tragic war before she can at last find what she seeks.

Happy reading!

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We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker @WhittyAuthor

We Begin at the End

by Chris Whitaker

We Begin at the End grabbed my attention from the very beginning. I wish I could have read it cover to cover in one sitting. It’s one of those books I thought about often when I wasn’t reading it. It’s a heart-breaking story really. Duchess is a fascinating character. She has a foul mouth, is disrespectful of authority, and pretty much seems to hate the world and everyone in it, but she has dealt with a lot in her 13 years already so it’s kind of understandable and I couldn’t help but like her. She does her best to look after her younger brother Robin, as their mother has her struggles. She doesn’t always make the wisest decisions though and she very much ends up paying a high price for her mistakes. My heart truly went out to her towards to the end.

Local police officer, Walk, does his best to look out for the family. I really liked him. I liked his loyalty to Vincent even when the rest of the town was against him.

Vincent is an intriguing character. I didn’t know what to make of him at first. We don’t hear much from him really considering he is a central character, so it was hard to form an opinion of him.

I loved the children’s Granddad. I love how he seemed to just get Duchess and give her the space she needed despite her rudeness and apparent lack of appreciation considering she had never known the full story behind his relationship with their mother. I love how their relationship slowly developed and was devastated by what happened and what was to follow.

I had no idea which direction this story would go in, and I couldn’t wait to find out.

By the end I had experienced all the emotions.

It’s so brilliantly written. I highly recommend it to all.

We Begin at the End is the first book I’ve read by Chris Whitaker. I sincerely hope it won’t be my last. (I have added all his other titles to my wishlist.)

** According to Amazon I purchased this book on the 5th of November 2021 **

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he’s been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin – and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

How far can we run from the past, when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

Happy reading!

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Things I Wanted To Say by Monica Murphy 

Things I Wanted To Say

by Monica Murphy 

This book was gifted to me from a lovely Bookstagram friend for my Birthday last year. It’s nothing like my usual kind of read and if I’m honest I wasn’t sure I was going to like it at first.

The main characters are 17-year-old American students, Whit and Summer. Whit has been born into a wealthy family and is in line to inherit a fortune. He struts around like he owns the school, and pretty much does. He’s a handsome lad and everyone bows down to him, but he’s not a particularly nice boy. And he is a boy, but with the confidence of a much more experienced man. I didn’t like him at all to begin with. His behaviour towards Summer is shocking, although I could kind of understand his animosity towards her mother. The bullying at the beginning made for uncomfortable reading at times. It takes ‘treat them mean, keep them keen’ to a whole new level!

The chemistry between them is obvious from the start though. However, I have no idea why Summer puts up with the way Whit treats her. I know they say some girls love a bad boy, but oh my days! She’s got her own past she’s battling to recover from, but she’s a beautiful girl who deserves so much better. Does she want better though!?

Their relationship soon becomes one of obsession and they can’t get enough of each other. (This is a very explicit book so it might not be for you if you’re offended by that kind of content.) Summer isn’t good enough for Whit though, according to his family. She isn’t marriage material, and they have his future mapped out for him, so she can only ever be a temporary plaything as far as they’re concerned. Whit has other plans though….

He grew on me eventually 😉

I found myself completely invested in their story!

** Many thanks to @mama_bookworm_ for my paperback copy. Hope you enjoy it. I see I sent it to you for your Birthday too! **

Whit Lancaster is the cold, heartless and devastatingly handsome bad boy at Lancaster Prep.

Beautiful Summer Savage has no time for Whit. But his intense gaze traps her under a spell. Fills her with a longing she doesn’t understand.

When Whit gets into trouble one night, Summer invites him in. Tends to his wounds. Lets her guard down, just for a moment . . .

Which is when Whit takes off in the dead of night. Taking her journal with him.

Now he holds all her darkest secrets, threatening to expose her to the entire school. So Summer strikes a deal with Whit.

A deal that leaves her at his mercy behind closed doors . . .

But what if he’s at hers?

Happy reading!