Book Review / Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

 

‘I did an evil thing to be put in here, and I’m going to have to do an evil thing to get out.’

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. There, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to keep her baby and escape to a commune. Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Every moment of their waking day is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid . . . and it’s usually paid in blood.

Published:  16th January 2025

Publisher:  Tor / Penguin / Random House 

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...   This was a fun read for me.  I already know and adore Grady Hendrix, having loved the majority of his previous books, so I was very excited to get stuck into this one.  I liked that it was not set in present day, but in the 1970s where, it appears, there was a history of unwed mothers being sent somewhere to have their baby type of situations.  So you have this bunch of girls who are stuck in Wellwood House, not being able to escape and being treated in a way that they want to escape or try and get out of it.  Its no wonder they get sucked into the occult and all it has to offer.  From then on its just a downward spiral into mayhem.  Although I would have loved to have been surprised by some twists and turns (most of them were predictable for me) I enjoyed this story nonetheless.  

Would I recommend?  A must pick up for those who have already enjoyed stories by this author.  For those who like a bit of history in their horror, this is a good one to try out also. 

Book Review / By Any Other Name

 

From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mad Honey comes an “inspiring” (Elle) novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name.

Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.

In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.

Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.

Published:  20th August 2024

Publisher:  Random House / Penguin/ / Allen & Unwin

Goodreads :  Click here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  The one aspect that I always enjoy when picking up a novel by this author is the fact that she makes me think.  This story was no different.  In this story, we are following Emilia Bassano throughout her life, following her works and where that leads her back in the 1580s.  When I went into this book I really didn't look to much into it or wonder what it was about.  I had not realised that this was based on and includes historical facts and references.  I have always been taught and believed that William Shakepeare was a very successful playright whose plays are still being shown and taught today.  What I had not really realised until reading this book was this may not have been true.  There are a lot of very interesting theories put forward on this book that has certainly made me question whether the history we have been taught is true. 

Would I recommend?  For those who like to think outside of the box and who want to question the history that we have been told throughout our entire lives, this is a very interesting book to pick up.  I can't say whether the history in this story is all fact, some fact or based on fact but the question that is posed in this story, I believe, is certainly one that should be discussed more...

Book Review / Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

 

The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible — a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.

Published:  14th January 2025

Publisher:   MacMillan / FlatIron

Goodreads : Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  Oh this book was good, really good!  I'm a massive thriller reader and I've read a lot over my reading life, so a book has to be at a top tier level to be able to surprise me.  I've not read anything from this author yet so I decided to go into this blind and read this via audiobook (Audible).  Right from the beginning, I was intrigued.  I needed to know what happened to Abby but then Grady travels away from home to process his grief over his missing wife to concentrate on his writing but all is not as it seems.  There were quite a few occassions in this book where I thought the story was going in one direction, but ended up in completely the other direction.  Adored everything about this book, including the ending.  

Would I recommend?  Absolutely, but I would recommend going into this blind (unless you've already read this review - sorry... maybe give it a while so you forget about it first...) with no expectations.  

Book Review / Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

 

In his first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, #1 bestselling author John Grisham and Centurion Ministries Founder Jim McCloskey share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions. Impeccably researched and grippingly told, Framed offers an inside look at the injustice faced by the victims of the United States criminal justice system.

A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty there is very little room to prove doubt. Framed shares ten true stories of men who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, wives, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place, and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and the corrupt court system that can make them so hard to reverse.

Told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of overcoming adversity when the battle already seems lost, and the deck is stacked against you.

Published:  15th October 2024 

Publisher:   Doubleday

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this book ...    This book was such an eye opener for me.  Living in England, I don't tend to hear a lot about stories like this in the news despite the fact that it probably does happen here also.  There are some truly heartbreaking stories in this book that I just couldn't believe even though its true.  What made this book even more interesting was the fact that you had two different perspectives, both authors.  One from the side of an author who used to practice law and one from the founder of an organisation that is dedicated to the vindication of the wrongly convicted.   

Would I recommend?  Absolutely.  This is such an important read even for those who live outside of the US.  

Book Review / The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Published:  26th February 2019

Publisher:  Bloomsbury

Goodreads : Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1, The Roots of Chaos

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW 

What I loved about this story...  Wow, what a story.  I already adore this author's writing so I was very excited to start reading this (despite this being on my TBR since it came out in 2019 - whoops!).  It was probably because it is a chunkier of a book at 845 pages long and the text is not very large.  Yes, this took me a while to read both because of its length and the fact that the story was very dense I needed to take my time reading this rather than trying to read it at a quick or even normal pace for me but I enjoyed every minute of reading it.  

Would I recommend?  Absolutely, for those who likes a very dense fantasy style story that you can get stuck into and you'll be a while in you should pick this up.  I will be planning to continue this series but I think I am going to wait until its completed and start back from the beginning again so that I can binge and spend a considerable amount of time in this world.  I can't wait!

Book Review / A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson

 

A newlywed librarian begins to suspect the man she married might be a murderer—in this spectacularly twisty and deviously clever novel by Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders.

Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas and the books she loved. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger.

A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the past year and uncovers a disturbing pattern—five unsolved cases of murdered women.

Is she married to a serial killer? Or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner once helped Martha out of a jam with an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is . . . but what Lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked than they ever could have expected.

Published:  11th June 2024

Publisher:  Harper

Goodreads : Click Here - opens in new window

Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 3, Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

 

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this novel, but I'll try!  Firstly, and more importantly, I have to mention that yes this is book 3 in a series but no you don't have to read the stories before it to read this one and make it make sense.  Yes, I would recommend reading the first two books as you would get a better experience all round, but you don't have to if you don't want to. 

This story took me down so many twists and turns I really wasn't sure where it was going to end up, and I really enjoyed the ride.  This story really tested me in my belief of how I feel about characters and whether my instincts are actually right.  

This is such a fun and unnerving thriller that kept me guessing until nearly the end!  Would highly recommend...

Book Review / Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

 

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it's now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They'll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.

Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?

Published:  2nd April 2024

Publisher:  Platkus

Goodreads :   Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Contemporary Romance

Pages:  432 pages, Paperback

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this novel.  This is the first story I have picked up from this author and it certainly won't be the last.  I found the writing style easy to read, which is what I was after with a contemporary romance.  I really wanted Justin to win in this book, and of course also Emma.  The fact that you have an unlikeable character in her mother and seeing her story play out as well along side was entertaining to say the least.   Read this in one sitting and don't regret it.  Would read it over and over again for sure!

Would I recommend... Absolutely.  Read it now!

Book Review / Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin...

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.

THE FOUNDER * THE HUSBAND * THE MYSTERY GUEST * THE KITCHEN HELP

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at… The Midnight Feast.

Published:  18th June 2024

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Goodreads :    Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Thriller, Mystery and Suspense 

Pages:  432 pages, Hardcover

MY REVIEW 

What I loved about this story...  I knew I had to pick this one up right after reading The Paris Apartment.  I just adore the way that this author's writing draws me in every time and just makes me addicted to the story right from the beginning.  This story was no different.   There were so many questions - What was the Secret?  What is the Manor?  What happened at the Manor? Is everyone who they say they are?  Now, I am not normally one who likes a story with a whole cast of characters, but this one felt different.  I found it easy to follow, remember and attempt to figure out what was going on.  Very creepy, I loved it!

Would I recommend... Absolutely!  If you haven't read a book by this author before, I would recommend starting with either this one or The Paris Apartment.  

Book Review / Funny Story by Emily Henry

 

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

Published:  23rd April 2024 

Publisher:  Penguin

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Romance, Fiction and Contemporary

Pages:  395 pages, Kindle 

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this book...  I had such a fun time reading this book.  This was everything I was hoping for.  An easy summer read with romance and a bit of a laugh along the way also.  I felt so sorry for Daphne at the beginning of the story but the moment we follow her a she goes to live with Miles.  What seems to be two completely different characters actually understand each other a lot more than they thought they would.  

Would I recommend...  I most definitely would!  Such a fun read.

Book Review / Camino Ghosts by John Grisham

 In this new thriller on Camino Island, popular bookseller Bruce Cable tells Mercer Mann an irresistible tale that might be her next novel. A giant resort developer is using its political muscle and deep pockets to claim ownership of a deserted island between Florida and Georgia. Only the last living inhabitant of the island, Lovely Jackson, stands in its way. What the developer doesn’t know is that the island has a remarkable history, and locals believe it is cursed…and the past is never the past…

Published:  28th May 2024

Publisher:  Doubleday

Goodreads :    Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Thriller, Mystery and Legal Thriller

Pages:  304 pages, Hardcover 

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  Read this novel in one sitting.  Could not put it down!  I loved being back on Camino Island revisiting a bundle of the usual residents and following a new story.  I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this story, learning more about the neighbouring deserted island and how it merged with the present day.

Would I recommend...  100% but to get the most of out this story I would recommend reading these Camino Island books in order.  

Book Review / Last Letter Home by Rachel Hore

 

On holiday with friends, young historian Briony Woods becomes fascinated with a wartime story of a ruined villa in the hills behind Naples. There is a family connection: her grandfather had been a British soldier during the Italian campaign of 1943 in that very area. Handed a bundle of letters that were found after the war, Briony sets off to trace the fate of their sender, Sarah Bailey.

In 1939, Sarah returns with her mother and sister from India, in mourning, to take up residence in the Norfolk village of Westbury. There she forms a firm friendship with Paul Franklin, a young German who has found sanctuary in the local manor house, Westbury Hall. With the outbreak of war, conflicts of loyalty in Westbury deepen. When, 70 years later, Briony begins to uncover Sarah and Paul’s story, she encounters resentments and secrets still tightly guarded. What happened long ago in the villa in the shadow of Vesuvius, she suspects, still has the power to give terrible pain …

Published:  22nd March 2018
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Goodreads :   Click Here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Bought
Genres:     Historical Fiction, Romance and Mystery
Pages:  576 pages, Paperback

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  I adored this story and although this book was nearly 600 pages I somehow managed to read this in one entire day.  I could not put this down.  Of course, we have the classic split narrative of 1939 and 2009 and is another wartime story.  For me the best part is the mystery.  Sarah investigating Westbury Hall and the story of what happened so long ago.  I needed to know what happened and would not stop reading until I found out.  

Would I recommend...  This is a perfect place to start if you are reading Rachel Hore for the first time or if you haven't got to this one yet you need to quickly!

Book Review / A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore

 

The night before it all begins, Jude has the dream again...

Can dreams be passed down through families? As a child Jude suffered a recurrent nightmare: running through a dark forest, crying for her mother. Now her six-year-old niece, Summer, is having the same dream, and Jude is frightened for her.

A successful auctioneer, Jude is struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband. When she's asked to value a collection of scientific instruments and manuscripts belonging to Anthony Wickham, a lonely 18th-century astronomer, she leaps at the chance to escape London for the untamed beauty of Norfolk, where she grew up.

As Jude untangles Wickham's tragic story, she discovers threatening links to the present. What have Summer's nightmares to do with Starbrough folly, the eerie crumbling tower in the woods from which Wickham and his adopted daughter Esther once viewed the night sky? With the help of Euan, a local naturalist, Jude searches for answers in the wild, haunting splendour of the Norfolk forests. Dare she leave behind the sadness in her own life and learn to love again?

Published:  2nd September 2010

Publisher:  Pocket Books

Goodreads :  Click here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Historical Fiction, Mystery and Romance 

Pages:  456 Pages, Paperback

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  It feels like I say this a lot but I really do love a good historical fiction story, especially one that links the past and the present together.  This is one of Rachel Hore's earlier novels that I wanted to pick up and I am glad that I did.  You have a mix of the creepy dreams that Jude both suffered as a child and her child now suffers from but you also have the investigation she undertakes into the tragic story of the Wickham's family.  I adored this novel from start to finish.

Would I recommend...  100%  Historical fiction fans and those who love a good mystery should give this a go.  

Book Review / The Dark Half by Stephen King

A “wondrously frightening” (Publishers Weekly) tale of terror and #1 national bestseller about a writer’s pseudonym that comes alive and destroys everyone on the path that leads to the man who created him.

Thad Beaumont is a writer, and for a dozen years he has secretly published violent bestsellers under the name of George Stark. But Thad is a healthier and happier man now, the father of infant twins, and starting to write as himself again. He no longer needs George Stark and so, with nationwide publicity, the pseudonym is retired. But George Stark won’t go willingly.

And now Thad would like to say he is innocent. He’d like to say he has nothing to do with the twisted imagination that produced his bestselling novels. He’d like to say he has nothing to do with the series of monstrous murders that keep coming closer to his home. But how can Thad deny the ultimate embodiment of evil that goes by the name he gave it—and signs its crimes with Thad’s bloody fingerprints?

Published:  1st January 1989

Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery and Supernatural

Pages:  460 pages, Paperback

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...   Now this story really creeped me out.  At first it might seem like a split personality type of story but then it takes another twist and turn and becomes something more horrifying.  The suspense in this novel is off the charts and I was truly creeped out for the majority of the novel, and loved it!

Would I recommend... For those who like classic Stephen King horror this is one not to miss.  

 

Book Review / The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella

 

Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.

Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout ( manifesting, wild swimming; drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).

When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk—about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them—flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion—signify?

Published:  1st October 2023   

Publisher:  Bantam

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Romance, Fiction and Contemporary

Pages:  383 pages, Paperback

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  Sophie Kinsella is firmly on my list of most favourite authors of all time so there was high expectations going into this book and it did not disappoint.  Picking up a novel by this author I always have the hope that its going to be easy to read, funny and filled with romance.  This is one of those books.  What made this story even more intriguing is Sasha going to stay at her old childhood seaside resort and she meets a range of really interesting characters especially a little bit of a mystery to solve.

Would I recommend...  A classic fun romantic read from Sophie Kinsella that I would highly recommend.