Book Review / The King of Torts by John Grisham

The office of the public defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit D.C. every week.

As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of enormous settlement that would totally change his life--that would make him, almost overnight, the legal profession's newest king of torts...





Published:    27th December 2005
Publisher:  Delta
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source: Owned

MY  REVIEW

Now this is what you call a page turner!  I just could not put this down...  This is the style of legal thriller that drew me into reading John Grisham's books in the first place and this one just took me right back to the first time I read one of his books.

We follow Clay Carter who is a young lawyer who works for the Office of the Public Defender.  His girlfriend and her family have high hopes of her marrying someone that is a high achiever and high earner and, at this time, Clay just isn't it.  On his own, Clay gets an offer of a lifetime.  Soon he has started his new business and is raking in the money.  Could it be as easy as this to gain money and legal fame?

There are so many things I loved about this book but if I had to pick one it would have to be the legal process.  Following Clay as he makes his different legal moves, how he deals with clients and how he deals with colleagues.  We follow the process of massive complex medical legal cases and how these are 'negotiated'.  I have to be honest and say that I didn't really care for the way that he treated his new girlfriend, as a sort of play thing and a sort of status play but that was such a minor part in this story it really didn't bother me that much but I guess at the moment he makes the decision to be with her he has lost all sense of reason anyway in the bigger picture.  I also enjoyed the ending but would have loved something a bit more explosive than what we had.

That said, I loved this story and the writing.  It was so good to delve into a really great legal thriller.

Book Review / Since Last Summer by Joanna Philbin

Please note that this is book 2 in a series, so the below may contain spoilers.

Rory McShane should be excited to spend the summer in East Hampton with Connor Rule, her generous, smart, cute boyfriend. After all, Rory's no longer the hired help at the Rule family mansion on the beach, and she and Connor have made it through a year of long-distance dating. But now, in the months leading up to college, Rory can't help but wonder if she really belongs in Connor's world.

Isabel Rule is still trying to get over Mike, the devastatingly sexy surfer who broke her heart last summer. Enter Evan, an aspiring filmmaker who's kind, funny, and crushing on Isabel. He'd be the perfect summer fling -- so why can't she seem to forget about Mike?

Set against a backdrop buzzing with the rich, the famous, and the wannabe rich and famous, Since Last Summer, a companion novel to Rules of Summer, is the perfect beach read.



Published:     3rd June 2014
Publisher:  Poppy
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 2, Rules of Summer
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

Now this story I was intrigued to picking up.  Having read and enjoyed the first book, Rules of Summer, I wanted to find out what happened next with the characters.

Again, we follow Rory as she returns to the Rules' house in the Hamptons but this time she is not going back to work.  She is going back because she is part of the family.  Interestingly, what I enjoyed the most in this story was following Isabel as she grows as a character and discovers that she may not be over her past love...

There were no surprises in this story and I do have to say that I was a little disappointed by what happens with Rory in this one but could understand where that had come from.  I was hoping for most from this story but it really was just an extension of the first story but with a bit more drama. I did enjoy reading it to follow more about the characters but wished there was more to the story.

Book Review / Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin

There are two sides…to every summer.

When seventeen-year-old Rory McShane steps off the bus in East Hampton, it’s as if she’s entered another universe, one populated by impossibly beautiful people wearing pressed khakis and driving expensive cars. She’s signed on to be a summer errand girl for the Rules—a wealthy family with an enormous beachfront mansion. Upon arrival, she’s warned by other staff members to avoid socializing with the family, but Rory soon learns that may be easier said than done.

Stifled by her friends and her family’s country club scene, seventeen-year-old Isabel Rule, the youngest of the family, embarks on a breathless romance with a guy whom her parents would never approve of. It’s the summer for taking chances, and Isabel is bringing Rory along for the ride.

But will Rory’s own summer romance jeopardize her friendship with Isabel? And, after long-hidden family secrets surface, will the Rules’ picture-perfect world ever be the same?

Published:     23rd May  2013
Publisher:  Atom
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1, Rules of Summer
Source: Owned

MY REVIEW

This was a re-read for me.  I had not realised that there was a follow up second book to this and can't believe that I hadn't picked it up already.  It had been a while since I had read the first book, so I thought I should start there first.   I had first read this back in 2018 and loved it back then, so I was intrigued to find out what I thought about it now.

We follow Rory in this story when, wanting to escape from her mother who was not the best of influences, she gets a job working in a house in the Hamptons.  Soon enough, she realises that there may be far more family at this house than back home.  

This was a fun read.  It was so great to be revisting this world again.  For me, the best part of this story was the relationship between Rory and Isabel.  You can see they might not be characters that get on at the start but circumstances change that.  Yes, this is very cliche and nothing was a surprise but it was still fun to read.   I am intrigued to find out where the second book takes me.

Book Review / A Painted House by John Grisham

"The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my grandfather could be heard before supper whispering words that were seldom heard. It could be a "good crop."

Thus begins the new novel from John Grisham, a story inspired by his own childhood in rural Arkansas. The narrator is a farm boy named Luke Chandler, age seven, who lives in the cotton fields with his parents and grandparents in a little house that's never been painted. The Chandlers farm eighty acres that they rent, not own, and when the cotton is ready they hire a truckload of Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to help harvest it.

For six weeks they pick cotton, battling the heat, the rain, the fatigue, and sometimes each other. As the weeks pass Luke sees and hears things no seven-year-old could possibly be prepared for, and he finds himself keeping secrets that not only threaten the crop but will change the lives of the Chandlers forever.

Published:     3rd February 2004
Publisher:  Bantam
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

What a beautiful story...   Continuing on my journey of reading all of John Grisham's novels, I was particularly looking forward to this one because by the description it had a similar feel to his first novel, A Time to Kill (which I loved).  This story has a different feel to his usual and well known theme of legal thrillers as it is more about the 1950s farming communities and what happens when things go right and wrong. 

In this story, we follow Luke Chandler (aged 7) who lives with his family on their farm in Arkansas.  It is coming up to farming season and we see how they prepare for this which includes a new season of new people being employed to come in and harvest for them (and earn money for them as well).

This is a more laid back relaxed style of story that should be enjoyed for the journey the author takes you on and watching each of the characters interact with each other.   But don't let this laid style fool you, there are aspects of dark secrets and even murder... 

Book Review / The Summons by John Grisham

Ray Atlee is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. He's forty-three, newly single, and still enduring the aftershocks of a surprise divorce. He has a younger brother, Forrest, who redefines the notion of a family's black sheep.

And he has a father, a very sick old man who lives alone in the ancestral home in Clanton, Mississippi. He is known to all as Judge Atlee, a beloved and powerful official who has towered over local law and politics for forty years. No longer on the bench, the Judge has withdrawn to the Atlee mansion and become a recluse.
With the end in sight, Judge Atlee issues a summons for both sons to return home to Clanton, to discuss the details of his estate. It is typed by the Judge himself, on his handsome old stationery, and gives the date and time for Ray and Forrest to appear in his study.

Ray reluctantly heads south, to his hometown, to the place where he grew up, which he prefers now to avoid. But the family meeting does not take place. The Judge dies too soon, and in doing so leaves behind a shocking secret known only to Ray.
And perhaps someone else.

Published:     27th September 2005
Publisher:  Delta
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

After a brief break from reading John Grisham's books, I was so glad to get back into it!

We follow Ray Atlee who is a professor of law at the University of Law.   He is not the only person in his family who deals with the law.  His father was a Judge back in his home town of Clanton, Mississippi.  His brother never followed that route and just delves into a mix of drug taking and rehab.   Both Ray and his brother Forest receive a summons to attend back at home to see their father.  Unfortunately, their father dies but leave a rather puzzling inheritance behind, which Ray discovers.

I really was not expecting the pace or plot of this story.  I was expecting a story that was heavy in law and maybe a court case or two but this story did not have a court case in sight.  I really enjoyed the slow pace of this story, which made me read even more slowly than I would normally do and thoroughly immerse myself in it.  I have to admit that I did suspect the twist in the plot nearer the end but that did not take away any enjoyment from this beautifully written story.

A slower paced thriller that will still keep you on the edge of your seat.

Book Review / Wild Horse Springs by Jodi Thomas (Book 5, Ransom Canyon)

In the heart of Ransom Canyon, sometimes the right match for a lonely soul is the one you least expect

Dan Brigman may not lead the most exciting life, but he's proud of what he's achieved: he's a respected lawman, and he's raised a bright, talented daughter on his own. But finding a lone, sparkly blue boot in the middle of a deserted highway gets him thinking maybe the cowgirl who lost it is exactly the shake-up he needs.

After losing her baby girl, Brandi Malone felt like her soul died along with her daughter. Now singing in small-town bars to make ends meet, she's fine being a drifter until a handsome sheriff makes her believe that parking her boots under his bed is a better option.

College grad Lauren Brigman has just struck out on her own in downtown Dallas when a troubling phone call leads her back home to Crossroads. Her hometown represents her family, friends and deepest hopes, but also her first love, Lucas Reyes. Will Lauren's homecoming be another heartbreak, or a second chance for her and Lucas?


Published:     24th Janaury 2017
Publisher:  HQN
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 5, Ransom Canyon
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

In this story, we are following Dan Brigman who is the office lawman.  We have seen him as a side character in the previous novels in this series but this time we get to learn a bit more about him, his life and his family.  We follow him as he meets someone who could change his life.  We are also following his daughter Lauren as she returns to town.  One thing leads to another and she sees her ex-boyfriend...

As I have probably said in previous reviews for this series, this is a series that you can dip in and out of with whatever book you want but to honestly get the full picture and truly appreciate the story for all it has to give, I would highly recommend starting from book 1 and going from there.   Although reading this book as a stand alone would have been fine but as I had read the previous novels and like to think that I know the characters of Dan and Lauren a little bit more than I would normally, I felt more for the characters and were already routing for them even before the story began.

With every book in this series, it is taking me further and further into this world and into the lives of all the residents here.  I can't wait to pick up the next one to see where that takes me!

Book Review / Sunrise Crossing by Jodi Thomas (Book 4, Ransom Canyon)

Return to peaceful Crossroads, Texas, where community comes first and love thrives in the unlikeliest places… 

Yancy Grey is slowly putting his life back together after serving time for petty theft. As he rebuilds an old house, he finally has a sense of stability, but he can't stop thinking of himself as just an ex-con. Until one night, he finds a mysterious dark-haired beauty hiding in his loft. But who is she, and what secret is she protecting?

The art gallery Parker Lacey manages is her life—she has no time for friends, and certainly not lovers. But when her star artist begs Parker for help, she finds herself in a pickup truck, headed for the sleepy town of Crossroads. A truck driven by a strong, silent cowboy…

Gabe Snow has been a drifter since he left Crossroads at seventeen after a violent incident. When he accepts a job in his hometown, he'll have to decide whether he can put the worst night of his life behind him and build a future in the community that raised him.

Published:     30th August 2016
Publisher:  HQN
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 4, Ransom Canyon
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

This is the story I have been waiting for in this series.  One of my absolute favourite characters, Yancy.   We first met Yancy in the first book in this series, Ransom Canyon.  He had wound up in the town having been in trouble in his past and wanting to escape.  He ended up being a 'care taker' for the older community.

In this story, we follow him after he had found out something really important about his history (and he still has a lot to learn in this story).  He is renovating a house that he wants to live in and in the process he meets a beauty who also has a complicated past.  We also follow and learn more about this new stranger and Parker Lacey who also come into town.

What I loved the most about this book is the romance.  Between not only one couple but more...

Book Review / Lone Heart Pass by Jodi Thomas (Book 3, Ransom Canyon)

Where family bonds are made and broken, and where young love sparks as old flames grow dim, Ransom Canyon is ready to welcome—and shelter—those who need it 

With a career and a relationship in ruins, Jubilee Hamilton is left reeling from a fast fall to the bottom. The run-down Texas farm she's inherited is a far cry from the second chance she hoped for, but it and the abrasive foreman she's forced to hire are all she's got.

Every time Charley Collins has let a woman get close, he's been burned. So Lone Heart ranch and the contrary woman who owns it are merely a means to an end, until Jubilee tempts him to take another risk—to stop resisting the attraction drawing them together despite all his hard-learned logic.

Desperation is all young Thatcher Jones knows. And when he finds himself mixed up in a murder investigation, his only protection is the shelter of a man and woman who—just like him—need someone to trust.

Published:     5th September 2017
Publisher:  Piatkus Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 45, In Death
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

This book was an interesting one for me as I did not recognise or remember reading about Jubilee, Charley and Thatcher previously.  I will be honest and say that this did throw me for a minute as the previous books were about characters that I had already read.  I thought I had missed something here (and maybe I have?) but that didn't mean I enjoyed this less.

We follow Jubilee as she returns to town having inherited a farm.  Being a city girl, it will certainly take her a lot of adjustment for her to run the farm but she was definately up for the challenge!  Thatcher Jones in this book was my favourite character and one of those characters were you see a lot of growth in his personality.

If I were to be picky I would have loved to have seen a lot more of the usual community in this story but nevertheless this was a great read!

Book Review / Rustler's Moon by Jodi Thomas (Book 2, Ransom Canyon)

On a dirt road marked by haunting secrets, three strangers caught at life's crossroads must decide what to sacrifice to protect their own agendas...and what they're each willing to risk for love.

If there's any place that can convince Angela Harrell to stop running, it's Ransom Canyon. And if there's any man who can reveal desires more deeply hidden than her every fear, it's Wilkes Wagner. Beneath the rancher's honorable exterior is something that just might keep her safe...or unwittingly put her in danger's path.

With his dreams of leaving this small Texas town swallowed up by hard, dusty reality, all Wilkes has to show for his life is the Devil's Fork Ranch. Though not one to let false hope seduce him, he can't deny the quiet and cautious beauty who slips into his world and changes everything.

Lauren Brigman finally has freedom at her fingertips. All she needs is Lucas Reyes's attention—a look, a touch, some sign that she's more to him than a girl he rescued one dangerous night. But now it's her turn to rescue someone, and the life-altering decision may cost her more than a chance with Lucas.

Published:     26th January 2016
Publisher:  HQN Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 2, Ransom Canyon
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

After reading so many thrillers, it is refreshing to pick up and start a new series that is not a thriller!  I always switch between thrillers and what this book is, a romance. I am going to preface this review by saying that I am not going to be spoiling any part of the story for those of you who have not yet picked up this series, but to explain more this series does not follow a story narrative from book 1 to whatever book it ends up at.  This series has a different story, more or less, with each book with featuring main characters from Ransom Canyon that we have seen before.  Some characters may appear in more than one book but every character has their own story.

In this story, we follow Angela who is running away and ends up at Ransom Canyon.  It is there that she meets Wilkes, a rancher at the Canyon.  Angela hopes that she has managed to get away from who she is running from, but she might not be that lucky.  We also follow Lauren who is the Sheriff's daughter who has to make a very hard decision.  Should she help someone? 

I am really starting to feel 'at home' in Ransom Canyon.  I feel like the first book was the 'introduction' to the Canyon and now we are really getting into the lives of some of the characters in it.

Despite stories being different in each book in this series, I would strongly recommend starting from the beginning, at book 1, and reading in order.  Yes, there are different main stories in each one but there may be characters that feature in book 1 but their main story is not seen until book 3.  You don't have to do this, but I would recommend it.

Blog Tour Book Review / The Silent House by Nell Pattison

If someone was in your house, you’d know.
Wouldn’t you?

But the Hunter family are deaf, and don’t hear a thing when a shocking crime takes place in the middle of the night. Instead, they wake up to their worst nightmare.

The police call Paige Northwood to the scene to interpret for the witnesses. They’re in shock, but Paige senses the Hunters are hiding something.

One by one, people Paige knows from the Deaf community start to fall under suspicion. But who would kill a little girl?

Was it an intruder?

Or was the murderer closer to home?



Published:     5th March 2020
Publisher:  Avon
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

After reading quite a lot of romance, it was great to get back to reading a good thriller.  In this story, we follow Paige Northwood.  Although she is not deaf, she grew up in a family who was and is now an self-employed interpreter for the emergency services.  There's a young girl who has been murdered and we need to find out whether it was someone she knew or an intruder.

The best part of this story for me was the actual mystery surrounding the young girl's death and who committed this crime.  I found it interesting to follow this story from an interpreter's perspective, given that she has history (which I would have loved to have had this explored a bit more in this story), but would have loved to have followed the police a little more and how they were investigating.

Don't get me wrong, this was a really great read and one that kept me turning the page until I found out what had happened at the very end but I would have loved to have had a bit more history of the character of Paige and follow the police a bit more.  I had also not read a story involving the deaf community before so this aspect of the story I did find fascinating. 

Blog Tour Book Review / Never Saw You Coming by Hayley Doyle

Some people go looking for love. Others crash right into it.

Zara Khoury believes in love – so much so that she flies from Dubai to Liverpool to be with a man she barely knows. It’s a risk, but she’s certain that uprooting her life for Nick is the new start she needs.

Jim Glover is stuck. Since his Dad died, he’s put his dreams aside and stayed at home in Liverpool to care for his mum. Trapped in a dead-end job, he’s going nowhere – that is, until he gets a phone call that just might change his life..

Zara and Jim aren’t supposed to meet. But then fate steps in, and when their worlds – and c




Published:     2nd April 2020
Publisher:  Avon
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

This book was so much fun to read!  In times like we are all experiencing right now, it was truly a breath of fresh air to get away from that and read a fun book that kept me hooked right until the last page!

What I loved about this book was the main character, Zara, and the character progression throughout the story.  For me, it was a story of hope and romance that just swept me away!

If you are a fan of stories from Sophia Kinsell and Cecelia Ahern, I would highly recommend this one!  I really can't wait to read more from this author!

Book Review / Winter's Camp by Jodi Thomas (Book 0.5 - Ransom Canyon)

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas has captivated readers around the world with her sweeping, heartfelt family sagas. To introduce her brand-new series, Jodi tells the story behind the unforgiving Texas landscape and how one man claims Ransom Canyon—and a timid beauty—for his legacy…

A wanderer’s life was all James Randall Kirkland had known since he was an orphaned boy in San Antonio. And while years of adventure had satisfied his younger self, now he’s longing to put down roots of his own and is prepared to go it alone. But when he sees the Apache slave woman with the startling blue eyes, the course of his journey is changed forever.

Ever since the Comanche raided her village and took her for their own, Millie hasn’t known any kind of freedom. After years of being outcast, beaten and traded from tribe to tribe, she’s unprepared for James’s patient tone and gentle ways. Still, as her handsome savior slowly earns her trust, Millie struggles between desire and fear, sure it’s just a matter of time before James tires of her and her burgeoning feelings are nothing but another wasted memory.

Published:     1st August 2015
Publisher:  HQN Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 0.5, Ransom Canyon
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

Back at Ransom Canyon again with this novella.  In this story, we are taken back in history to the beginnings of Ransom Canyon.  We follow James Randall Kirkland (whose relative we see later on in the main story - Staten) wandering when he comes across an APache slave woman that catches his attention.  He decides to save her from a life of pretty certain death and 'buys' her from the camp and takes her with him but not as a slave but to give her some form of freedom.  

We slowly follow James and Millie as they get to know each other and both adapting to their new lives, learning who they are now and all about their past.  For me, this was what made this great for me seeing the natural progression of meeting someone, learning about them and forming some kind of relationship with them.

This novella is well worth picking up.  I would recommend picking this up after reading Ransom Canyon, the first book in the series.  That way, I think you will get more out of this book, Ransom Canyon and the entire series. 





 

Book Review / Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas (Book 1, Ransom Canyon Series)

From New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas comes the first book in a compelling, emotionally resonant series set in a remote west Texas town—where family can be made by blood or by choice…

Rancher Staten Kirkland, the last descendent of Ransom Canyon's founding father, is rugged and practical to the last. No one knows that when his troubling memories threaten to overwhelm him, he runs to lovely, reclusive Quinn O'Grady… or that she has her own secret that no one living knows.

Young Lucas Reyes has his eye on the prize—college, and the chance to become something more than a ranch hand's son. But one night, one wrong decision, will set his life on a course even he hadn't imagined.

Yancy Grey is running hard from his troubled past. He doesn't plan to stick around Ransom Canyon, just long enough to learn the town's weaknesses and how to use them for personal gain. Only Yancy, a common criminal since he was old enough to reach a car's pedals, isn't prepared for what he encounters.

In this dramatic new series, the lives, loves and ambitions of four families will converge, set against a landscape that can be as unforgiving as it is beautiful, where passion, property and pride are worth fighting—and even dying—for.

Published:     25th August 2015
Publisher:  HQN Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1, Ransom Canyon
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

I am delving back into this series again.  It was one that I started to read back in 2016 but was only able to get so far because of the books I could get hold of at that time.  Now there are a lot more in this series and I can't wait to carry on reading!  I would normally review the series as a whole rather than each individual book but with this series and with each book you come across there is a different story covering different characters, so I am going to do a review for each one.

In this story, we follow mainly Staten Kirkland and Quinn.  Staten's wife, who was also Quinn's best friend, died a while back.  Staten and Quinn remained friends and, after five years or so, they are getting closer.   Quinn has a secret past that is stopping her from moving forward with her life.  We watch as she gets closer to Staten and decides to trust him with her secret.

We also follow a few other smaller stories including Lucas Reyes and Lauren and a couple of other friends who decide to investigate an old house but when they do tragedy happens.  There is also Yancy Grey who is running from a very troubled past but somehow lands in Ransom Canyon and gets a job as a handyman for the older communication in the Canyon.

What I loved the most about this story are the characters.  There are so many but the story has been written so well that I certainly would not forget any of them and what is happening with them.  All the 'main' characters are certainly rememberable and have their own stories that we get a glimpse of in this story.  I am guessing that as this series goes on and one we get to follow each of these and learn more about them.

Such an addicting story and what I would call a dramatic romance - not sure if that is the correct term but that's the one I am giving it!  You you love a bit of romance mixed in with the drama, you need to check out this series!

Book Review / Final Girls by Riley Sagar

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media's attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Blowing through Quincy's life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy's life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam's truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

Published:     11th July 2017
Publisher:  Dutton
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

This is the final Riley Sagar book that I can get my hands on at the moment but I really do wish there were a lot more - I can't stop reading them!

In this story, we follow Quincy who is a Final Girl which means the only survivor of a tragedy.  In this story there are three from different tragedies but we particularly follow Quincy in this one.  On first look, all seems to be going ok with Quincy but looks can be deceiving.

This one was definately a page turner for me but I do have to say that I was less surprised by a lot of the twists and turns in this one - having already guessed what was going to happen - but that didn't spoil the enjoyment of the story for me.  This was still good and most certainly one that kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to watch Quincy and other characters deal with what was put in front of them as the story goes on.

A great story - less about the surprises for me but more about the story and the characters progressing through what the have to deal with. 

Book Review / Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid's disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building's hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

Published:     2nd July 2019
Publisher:  Dutton
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

How could I not pick up another book by this author!  Having just read The Last Time I Lied,  I needed to read more from this author and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest!

In this story we follow Jules who is very down on her luck.  Her parents having died a while back with her sister also having disappeared a while back before that, her boyfriend cheating on her and she's lost her job.  Things could not get any worse for her - or could they?  Jules sees an advert for an appartment sitter.   Its only when she arrives that she discovers that it is the Barthlomew, which is one of Manhattan's most high profile buildings but it also holds secrets.

I could not put this down. I picked this up one Sunday morning after waking earlier than I had intended and wanted to treat myself to some early morning reading time - something of a rarity for me but one that I love.    What I have learned is that this author knows his stuff when it comes to suspense and building characters.  With every page turned, you get a little bit closer to finding out what is going on and a little bit closer to the realisation that the character is probably going to be in trouble soon...  As with The Last Time I Lied, I went into this story blind only knowing the cover and the author.  For me, this was most certainly the best way to go.

I think I am probably going to end up saying this after every book I read from this author but you need to read this!  Now! :-)

Book Review / The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she—or anyone—saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings—massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it's immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present.

And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

Published:     3rd July 2018
Publisher:  Dutton
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

I am not sure whether it is just good luck but this is the second thriller that I have picked up this month and I just could not put it down!  This was amazing!

We follow Emma Davis who after fifteen years was going back to Camp Nightingale.  A place that she never thought she would go back to after three of the friends that she made there and who were staying with her in the same cabin disappeared.  This event has haunted her ever since, so now Emma decides that it is time for closure.  We follow her as she starts to investigate what happened and we meet some new characters and some characters that were there the first time.

There are certainly a lot of twists and turns in this story and I can't tell you how many times I had thought one of the characters was the culprit and was wrong!  I went into this story blind, not really knowing anything about it but the title and, for me, that was the best way to go into this.   Certainly the twist at the end I did not see coming!

If you have not picked this up yet, you should!  Now!

Book Review / The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him...


Published:     5th February 2019
Publisher:  Celadon Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

This book was amazing!  I just could not put this down and read it in one sitting, simply because I could not bear not knowing what had happened!

We follow two characters in this book. The first is Alicia who seemed to have the perfect life but all goes wrong when her husband is shot dead.   She has never spoken after that moment.  The second is Theo who is a criminal psychotherapist who has heard of Alicia and wants to help treat her.  He manages to get a job in the facility that she is being kept and looked after and soon after manages to persuade his boss that he can give it a shot - to try and get her to talk and both help her and find out the truth.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this story - some that were predicatable and some, in particular the twist nearer the end, I really had not expected and completely floored me!

You need to read this book!

Book Review / Perfect Kill by Helen Fields

He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying.
 
Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.
 
Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…



Published:     6th February 2020
Publisher:  Avon
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 6, D I Callanach
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

I really enjoyed this story.  Instead of the usual thriller style books that I have been reading recently, this one centres more from the point of the view of the detectives and we follow police procedure and processes etc.  Not that the kidnapping and everything else that is going on wasn't important as that is what the police are looking for but, for me, the most interesting part of this is the police and detective work. 

There is certainly a lot more than what meets the eye with this story.  What starts off as a kidnapping turns into something completely different and a far larger problem than the detectives had originally anticipated including the trafficking of women for the sex trade. 

I am sensing that there is a larger story to this that I haven't picked up as this is book 6 in the series and I haven't read any of the previous novels, but that didn't affect being able to just pick up and read this one as a stand alone but I am definitely intrigued to see what the bigger picture is in this series...

Book Review / Behind Closed Doors by B A Paris

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.

You’d like to get to know Grace better.

But it’s difficult, because you realise Jack and Grace are never apart.

Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.

Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.






Published:     9th August 2016
Publisher:  Harlequin Mira
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:   Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

This book made me so angry, but that's ok.  Its meant to!

We follow Jack and Grace, a recently married couple who are settling into their dream home.  Grace's sister, who has Down's Syndrome, is going to be joining them soon after leaving her residential school unit as she is old enough to move out.   What seems like a normal couple living a normal life may not be the case.

Words cannot describe how much this made me angry for reasons that I can't tell you because of spoilers but let's say that this is a book that deals with the relationships between married couples, when they work and when they don't work in awful fashion.  And that ending!  I won't say too much more as it is really best if you go into this novel as blind as you possibly can but this book was a page turner from start to finish and I definitely wasn't left disappointed. 

Blog Tour Book Review / Liar Liar by Mel Sherratt

The truth can be a dangerous thing…

When a young boy is thrown from a balcony in a block of flats, DS Grace Allendale witnesses the shocking aftermath of the tragic event. But despite everything, no one will admit to seeing who did it – and the parents will only tell the police that it was an accident.

Determined to bring the perpetrator to justice, Grace must sort the truth from the lies in a case that takes her into the darkest corners of the criminal world – and strikes closer to home than she could have ever imagined…








Published:     19th March 2020
Publisher:  Avon
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 3, DS Grace Allendale
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

In this story, we follow DS Grace Allendale who, along with her colleagues, are investigating the tragic event of a young boy potentially being thrown from a balcony in a block of flats in a community where they keep their own secrets and others in the building for fear of their own lives.  Along with this, you have what seems to be a 'bigger picture' story that I am guessing is building up with every book in this series but I can't comment on that as I have not yet picked up any of the other books in this series but that doesn't spoil this story.  You can easily read this as a stand alone.

For me, the pace of the story was a little slower than what I would have liked but when you get to the main part of the story and DS Grace is interviewing the various 'suspects' around the block of flats I soon got stuck into trying to figure out who was telling the truth and who was lying.  This was more about the different characters, their personalities and what they have or have not got away with or what secrets they are keeping.  That was the best part of this for me.

A good story and one that for sure makes me intrigued to pick up the other books at some point in the future to see what the bigger picture is and learn more about DS Grace and her family connections. 

Blog Tour Book Review / The Neighbours by Nicola Gill

Meet Ginny, 34, and Cassie, 55. Neighbours, and (very) unlikely friends.

Some women have it all. Others are thirty-four, renting a tiny flat alone because they recently found their long-term boyfriend in bed with their boss. Unfortunately, the latter applies to Ginny Taylor. Single and jobless, Ginny is certain her life can’t get any worse. But then she encounters her downstairs neighbour for the very first time...

Cassie Frost is a woman who had it all – she was a once-loved actress, but a recent stint on reality TV has rocketed her to online infamy. She’s suddenly become a national hate figure – and she desperately needs a new publicist. And Ginny is a publicist who desperately needs a job... but can she be persuaded to work for the uber-difficult, excessively prickly woman that lives below her floorboards?

Because sometimes – just sometimes – bad neighbours become good friends...


Published:     6th February 2020
Publisher:  Avon
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

This book was so much fun to read!  We follow Ginny as what I believe is the main character in this story.  She has not having the best time with breaking up with her boyfriend and losing her job at the same time, along with her best friend and room mate moving away.  Along comes Cassie who had recently taken part in a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here style show and also having a bad time with social media etc.  We follow both of these characters as they navigate both their lives and also help with each others.

What I loved most was the friendship between Ginny and Cassie.  Quite often in stories like this friendships can be portrayed as always happy, pillow fights etc etc etc.  In this story, we have a honest description of what life is like for both of them when things are not going right and also showing both their personalities which may not always be bubbly and happy - sometimes it is sarcastic and a little bit mean but meant not to be mean and meant to help the other.  This is what made this story fun to read.  There are, of course, other smaller stories like other family members and their relationship and potential new love interests for the two main characters but those stories I only saw as side stories and the main focus was the friendship.

A really honest and funny read I would recommend.