The Millionaire Plan by Karen King

Okay, so where do I start with this one.  Let us commence with the complete lack of proof reading or editing shall we - always remember, no amount of spellcheck can save you if your typo is a real word.  So, we get Amber making coffee by "pouring hot water in to a cafeteria" (okay, that one made me laugh) and Randy "realising his hold on her bag" (not realising it was too tight or unwanted but handing it to Amber).  These are just two examples from the latter half of the book, trust me there are numerous scattered throughout.  Along with that we also have a plethora of missing words, usually prepositions so you can figure out what should be there.  Then you have factual errors - we are told Amber and Callie are staying in Callie's Aunt's waterfront apartment but then it becomes a cottage and then back to an apartment again.  When Amber has seasickness Jed gives her Ginger Tea but a paragraph later it's ginger ale.  As you can tell, the multiple errors really aggravated me.

Even worse than the liberal problems with the text itself is the plot.  It made me feel unclean just reading it - what a toxic bunch of people; each and every one of them a liar in their own way.  Strangely, the designed-to-be-odious Randy is perhaps the only honest one among them - he admits he wants a marriage of convenience and a child of convenience so he can get his inheritance bumped up to the max.  Everyone else is just ick - Amber wants a millionaire to solve her parents money worries (if it's an inherited house why do they appear to have a full mortgage on it, if her dad is such a success in business why would they have any mortgage on an inherited property?); Jed is a billionaire but pretends he is just a "working Joe" and pretty much penniless.

The plot itself is pretty much laughable with people falling in love in seconds.  Now, I like a good rom com as much as the next woman but even I baulked at this one as being ridculous and contrived.  There is a brief attempt to create an on-again-off-again tension but it never really works.

I have read one Karen King book that I really enjoyed and that led me to buy a slew of her books, I really wish I hadn't.

The Doll House by Phoebe Morgan

I was actually quite disappointed in this book, having discovered the author through her second novel (The Girl Next Door) I was expecting great things from this book.  Unfortunately, it just didn't deliver.

Ultimately the story is about two families - one seemingly normal with mum, dad and 2 daughters and one with a deranged mother and her daughter who appear to be stalking the former.  Initially it is all a bit disorientating as you are trying to figure out if the reminiscences from "Then" are of this girl watching Corinne and Ashley's family and then, to be honest I gave up really caring.  The problem for me was that I couldn't warm to either Corinne or Ashley so when it becomes apparent that yes, they are the daughters so longingly watched through the windows I couldn't really find myself summoning up much sympathy for them.

The identity of the mysterious girl is well hidden through the book and you are given a couple of red herrings along the way.  Unfortunately, the tension of what was happening with Ashley's husband Jack and here fears he was having an affair is dissipated somewhat by the fact it is clear to the reader that this is not what is happening (honestly, it is almost spelt out what his reasons for always being at work are early in the proceedings).  Then you have their daughter Lucy who has an "unsuitable friend", again you know from the first incident who this friend is going to turn out to be so it takes some of the sting out of it all.

Corinne and her boyfriend just plain irritated me.  Which somehow makes me feel bad because of their struggles to procreate but Corinne just comes across as vacile and needy so I couldn't get too worked up about what she was going through.

There was a lot that didn't make sense in the plotting but the final showdown with "the girl" at the mother's house and then in the Underground just stretched believability too far and made me tut and roll my eyes.  the book does end on a nicely twisted note though, that I did appreciate.

Girl's Guide To Witchcraft by Mindy Klasky

2.5 Stars

I'm at a bit of a loss with this review, this is the second time I've read this book and I must have loved it the first time around as I have all 5 in the series and have read them all.  Unfortunately, on this read through I'm not quite sure why that is.  I could just about remember the basics - librarian Jane gets her wage slashed but free accommodation to make up for it, discovers secret basement full of Witchy goodies and awakens her familiar, Neko, by accident which leads her Warder, David to turn up on the doorstep berating her; all mixed up with her family relationships changing, her crush on an academic who turns out to be a bit of a prat and her friendship with the baker.

Everything that happens in the book is narrated by Jane and she is annoying - whether it is her constant ramblings about the academic or worrying that people are only nice to her because she inadvertently cast a love spell - her voice soon began to grate on me.  No wonder her grandmother keeps asking her to make promises not to do weird stuff (like "promise me you won't kiss a toad") as she is just dumb enough to do anything someone tells her too.  The humour in the book comes from laughing AT Jane rather than WITH Jane and leaves you feeling a little bit less than you thought you were; not that there is much humour to be entirely honest.

My favourite character is Neko - he is the king of snark and completely fabulous (yes, in the Ru Paul sense of the word).  Unfortunately, he doesn't make enough appearances in the book for my money. 

I am so not sure why I loved this one the first time through and I am now wondering if it is worth re-reading the rest of the series but I've dug them out now so I guess I will.

The Ballroom Cafe by Ann O'Loughlin

When I started reading this book, I found it more than a little peculiar - two sisters living under the same roof who communicate only by written notes (not because one of them is deaf or mute, oh no because they just don't speak to each other) and then an interloper to this tiny village arrives and is clearly set to shake everyone up.  I did a little mental eye roll and decided to stick with it because I had previously loved The Ludlow Ladies Society which was my introduction to this author.  I was worried that the plot line was going to be something similar - especially as the loss of a child is mentioned early on - and, indeed, there are some similarities in that it is a book primarily about women and their relationships both with each other and the wider world.  Men, are very much second place in Ann O'Loughlin's books and this is very much the case here - yes, they appear and they are dealt with as sensitively as the women but they just aren't important to this story.

Fortunately, I soon become absorbed by the story.  It touches on quite emotive issues - spousal cheating, Magdalen Laundries and adoption.  Unfortunately, the twist that is much vaunted is not so much of a twist as an I knew it but hey ho.  Ella and Roberts clearly have serious issues with each other but as the story unfolds you realise that the reasons behind the fracture in their relationship are manyfold and it wasn't just one incident that caused it; what is surprising is the vitriol in the notes they leave each other, although I will admit to finding some of it amusing.

One thread that runs through the whole tale are the Weiss Brooches.  I just loved the fond descriptions and memories each tiny item of jewellery evoked in Ella and such a simple device managed to create a really evocative snapshot of both the past and the present.  Not always happy times but real times, and these snapshots helped me understand the time, the place and the events between much better.

A truly beautiful story of ordinary lives moulded by societal concerns far beyond the individuals concern.

The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle

          2.5 Stars

This is quite a peculiar little tale of Sabrina and her five 30th Birthday dinner guests (Audrey Hepburn, Conrad - her old professor from USC, Robert - her estranged father, Tobias - her ex-fiance, and Jessica - her best friend).  Not quite sure why she was limited to only 5 people for her fantasy dinner party list but she was.  Indeed the number five is a recurring theme throughout the book, particularly with Tobias and his random times to ask Sabrina for 5 words to describe how she feels in the moment.

I'm not entirely sure what the author is trying to convey with this story and fear that it is all trying to be terribly clever and deep at the expense of the story itself.  It takes some getting used to the flashing back in time to a specific event and then jolting back to the birthday dinner - in all honesty I never really got comfortable with that and it is a thematic trope I am well used to.  It just felt somehow disjointed and quite fractured, mainly because Sabrina is quite an annoying character.

Everything is told from her viewpoint and it soon becomes clear that she never really considers other people's thoughts and feelings when making plans or doing anything.  Initially we are treated to her derision of her best friend's life and lifestyle choices and then, as the story progresses she is similarly judgmental of her father, her boyfriend and almost everyone she comes in to contact with.

I am still not entirely sure why Audrey Hepburn was on her dinner party list - a very strange juxtaposition between people that were important in Sabrina's life and then a movie star.  It was also quite disconcerting to have words put in to Ms Hepburn's mouth.  As one guest was obviously dead it made sense that others were too so I spent a fair chunk of the book trying to decide who was an who wasn't pre-deceased - it does get drawn out eventually.

This was all a bit of a slog to read, which is a pity as the first few chapters showed a lot of promise and drew me in quite well.  Unfortunately as more becomes revealed you soon realise that Sabrina herself is quite a manipulative and selfish character and that everyone else seems happy to pander to her.  Also, nothing is really resolved by this meal and all the interactions around the table, and the flashbacks they engender, become progressively more and more serious and depressing.  There is no light relief, not even from the supposed love story between Sabrina and Tobias.

All in all, I was very disappointed with the book and felt that it was style over substance.  I did persevere to the end but will readily admit I had to bribe myself with the promise of reading an old favourite if I slogged it out to the end.

THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY READERS FIRST.
       

The House We Called Home by Jenny Oliver

3.5 Stars

Once I got around 50 pages in to the book I started to enjoy it, but it does take perseverance to get that far.  There is a lot of information thrown at us initially and, to be perfectly honest, all of the characters are initially painted as being pretty much a complete bunch of horrors.  The kind of people you cross the road to avoid in real life.  Gloria(?) and Graham, the matriarch and patriarch of the family, have a stale marriage - she has a wandering eye and he just wanders off.  Stella and Jack and their 2 children are, respectively, a narcissist and a fantasist.  Amy is childlike and entitled and has got herself in to a bit of a pickle with a one night stand.  There is some character progression through the book, fortunately, but I never really warmed to any of the characters or the situation they found themselves in, with the exception of Amy.  Once you realise the reasons why she is like she is it starts to make sense and at least by the end of the book she is starting to shoulder the burden of being responsible for herself.

I'm not entirely sure where the tagline "The magical, laugh out loud..." comes from though.  It is sheer hyperbole as there is nothing magical about watching families fracture and then try to rebuild - and it is very definitely try.  I came away with the feeling that Gloria(?) and Graham may reconcile and that Amy was sorted but I give Stella and Jack 6 months - tops - before they snide each other to death.  There is a little bit of humour but certainly not enough to make you snort let alone laugh out loud.  Most of what little there is comes more from denigration of one character by another, whilst reflecting family life pretty accurately it doesn't work as well on the page because those sort of asides need body language to balance them out, in writing they just seem offensive.

That said I did enjoy the pacing of the story and finding out the history of the Whitethorn sisters.  I did feel it was more of a kitchen sink drama-lite than a comedy though, fortunately I like that kind of book too.  It does raise some interesting points about how families perceive each other and how it is all to easy to slot in to familiar childhood roles when everyone gets together.

A Girl's Best Friend by Jules Wake

4.5 Stars

This was a thoroughly entertaining read, even if the benefits of dog ownership are somewhat rammed down your throat - becoming a bit of a theme in Ms Wake's books unfortunately.  At least in this one the downside is also showcased, particularly as the heroine, Ella, gets landed with the canine equivalent of a garbage disposal - a labrador.  To be entirely fair, as much as I am not a dog person, the author did make dog ownership seem kind of fun despite the whining at night and the close call with the chocolate eating.

The story itself is well structured, with the story arc taking place at a gentle pace over a few months.  In the beginning Ella is completely disenfranchised - she has split up with her boyfriend and moved to the country from London to house sit for her Aunt and feels completely out of her depth.  As an illustrator her creativeness seems to have flown the coop and her hopes of becoming what she feels is a "real" artist are completely subsumed.  Slowly the village and Tess (her dog) help to break her out of her depression and help her reconnect with herself and her creativity.

The writing really drew me in to the story and I loved the little glimpses of Ella's artistic life.  It was her illustrations that captivated me and the descriptions almost allowed me to see Cuthbert, Englebert and the gang in her drawings - particularly the ill-fated image of the Cavalier hat wearing Cuthbert.  It also reminded of Trisha Ashley and her character (Tansy) who draws the Slipper Monkey books in Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues, which is no bad comparison in my opinion.

The characters are all flawed, normal sounding people and somehow you feel like you have known them forever.  So much so, picking up the book felt like settling in to a cosy couch with a brew for a good natter with friends.  Warm, funny and bittersweet in places.  The only thing that really let it down was the section dealing with Patrick, Ella's ex, and her realisation that he had been stealing from her - for me it really didn't need that thrown in to the mix and it jarred with the feel of the rest of the book.

A comforting read that entertains and enthralls.

One Minute Later by Susan Lewis

I got just over halfway through this story and found that the thought of picking it back up made my heart sink.  So much so, instead of reading it I started procrastinating with useless list articles online.  This morning I decided that I was just going to call it a push and not finish the book - the reason it took me a while to make this decision is because the writing is nicely paced and the author does get the reader engaged in the story.  Actually, that is the problem with it as well.

Vivienne (Vivi for short and, probably, narrative flow) is still young (20s), fit and healthy but on her birthday receives some disastrous health news - her heart is failing and her only hope is a transplant.  Not the most joyous of scenarios to write about but I have read books based on similar tales in the past and there is warmth and humour to be found in even the bleakest of situations.  Unfortunately, Vivi's situation and outlook is just unremittingly bleak; add in her strained maternal relationship and her decision that she now has to find her estranged father and by the half way point I just couldn't really take anymore angst and was already skim reading her sections.

The second half of the story centres around Shelley, Jack and their 2 daughters and 1 son and their new life at Deerwood Farm.  This starts off a tale of bucolic wonder and really lifted the overall tone of the book and gave me a degree of the warm fuzzies.  Unfortunately, things then start to go wrong for them in BIG ways and suddenly we are dealing with premature death, miscreant teenagers and anything else the author could throw at us.

I didn't finish the book but skimmed through it and, to be honest, it doesn't seem to get much better really.  It is just depressing scene after depressing scene and just does not appeal to me at all.  I read a wide range of genres and don't mind a bit of misery from time to time but this was so unrelenting that it actually slowed my reading enjoyment down of other books.  Maybe this means the author really plucked at my emotions and made me feel uncomfortable things but maybe it just means that my preferred type of escapism has to have something more than just misery and fear in it.

Other people seem to really like it and I won;t encourage you not to buy it.  All I will say is if you want an unrealistic view of the world and a degree of fantasy in with your reality then this is not the book for you (I do like my literary realities to be a little better than reality).  If you like "misery memoirs" then you may well be on the fence with this one too as they usually have some sort of redemptive message in them.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE

The Girl Next Door by Phoebe Morgan

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it would have been 5 Stars, it really would, if I hadn't sort of figured it out by around the halfway mark.  I suppose I have deducted a star for personal smugness here - I wanted to be wrong and for there to be some earth shattering revelation that I didn't see coming, but I didn't get that so I am going to be cruel and knock a star off.

There are really two main threads that weave through this story.  The first is the murder of "The Girl Next Door", 16 year old Claire, beautiful but cowed who has secrets in her past and is doing her best to overcome them.  Unfortunately, she is in the wrong place at the wrong time and she loses her life.  The second is the story of any medium sized town.  The difference with Ashdon is that the inhabitants seem to be mainly wealthy (or have the impression of wealth).  Other than that it is the same Keeping Up With The Joneses and appearance being far more important than the reality that is, or seems to be, a pretty universal tale (even if you are in the wilds of the Amazon Jungle I am sure there are the same petty powerplays, the need to feel superior to someone, anyone, seems to be a pretty ingrained human trait).

We only really get to "know" three of the characters through the tale.

First off there is Claire as she slowly reveals the events of that February evening.  She is a troubled girl, struggling to come to terms with her father's death from cancer, her mother's subsequent remarriage and the awfulness of being 16.  Her voice is quite strong and the author does manage to give you an insight in to Claire's tight, controlled little existence.  You do feel an empathy for her, even when she is acting out and lieing to her parents - we were all 16 once and it seems like fairly normal behaviour.

Then we have Madeleine, local police officer who lives close to the main hub of the crime.  She is rather difficult to get a feel for on the page, but she is fairly likeable.  She seems to be driven not just be a need to know the absolute truth but by a need to see past all the facades that people throw up.  Unfortunately for Madeleine the town gossip and outright lies whispered in to her ears do cloud her judgement of the events surrounding Claire's death and cause her to make some bad decisions.

Finally there is our main narrator, Jane.  I hated this character almost from the off.  At first she seems just like any self-centric, commuter belt, stay at home mum and I kept waiting for something to be revealed about her inner life rather than the outer one that she is so vehement about projecting.  Everything is about appearance to this woman and you immediately feel that there has to be something more.  For me, as the something more began to be revealed I realised that this woman is a true Sociopath and couldn't manage to read her sections without sitting in sneering judgement over this character.

Congratulations to the author though.  I cannot really believe how much you made me feel for a fictional character.  It may not have been a particularly nice set of emotions and probably reflect poorly on me but you know what, I don't really care.  I felt some true and honest emotions for a character and it was Phoebe Morgan's writing that did that - not many people can achieve that level of connection with their readers and I thank you for it!

The plot cannot really be discussed here as I am likely to start pontificating and give everything away.  It is very nicely woven together with natural peaks and troughs in the telling and some lovely little vignettes of small town life.  A couple of time the Stepford Wives are referred to by Jane and it is a pretty accurate assessment.  There is a good balance between the murder inquiry and the daily routines of life but it is really the behind the scenes of the town that capture the imagination.

I wasn't too sure about the ending ultimately.  There are a few questions left unanswered that are now starting to niggle with me and I would love to share what they are but, NO SPOILERS.

This was a fantastic read and it really renewed my faith in the genre - a genre I was starting to avoid like the plague.  When I went o check Ms Morgan's back catalogue I realised that I already own her first book (this was her second) and now this one is finished I am eager to start reading The Doll House.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.

Troublemaker by Leah Remini

On finishing this unflinching memoir, the first thing I thought was that Leah Remini would go back in a heartbeat if they adhered to L Ron Hubbard's philosophy and that if it wasn't for the blatant corruption shown in the hierarchy that she would never have left.  Her pain at leaving seeps off the page but I still left the pages with the feeling that although she now espouses psychoanalysis and therapy as being societally helpful that she is, in some way, only paying lipservice to the ideal and that the indoctrination throughout her life still holds deep within her.  Of course, it is now some years since this book was written and she may have made progress on truly detaching herself from the church but when it was written she clearly still felt a deep love for it's teachings and is still striving to achieve that next OT level in her own heart.

There is always a shock, on some level, when you find out that someone is a scientologist and this book shows exactly why those of us on the outside almost fear these people.  I've always looked at people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta and thought to myself "well, they are quite clearly fruit bats in the first place so it doesn't surprise me".  When you find out that seemingly sane celebrities are involved - Leah was perhaps my biggest shock - you do wonder what hold they have on people.  This book seeks to answer that question and it seems to boil down to they find you at your lowest ebb, tell you they can take the pain and failure from your life and who wouldn't want that?

It interested me that the scientology (can you see how I refuse to capitalise that) definition of Critical thinking is so far removed from that actual meaning of that phrase and that there are very, very few people with college degrees involved in the church (the non-capitalistion here is Leah's); so noticeable was that that it is even referred to in the later chapters after Leah and her family have dissolved their connections.  Just because you don't have a degree doesn't make you stupid, far from it, but it does perhaps make you judge your worth and leave you vulnerable to people who proclaim to be able to give you every success you have ever wanted.  Even worse, if you are second generation you have no hope of a proper, formalised education if your parents are devout adherents as this is strongly frowned on - you have a massive work ethic and can study like no-one else but those multitudinous certificates you receive only massage your ego and mean nothing.

The only thing that irked me was Leah's appraisal of herself.  I can understand why she lists only the "bad" things about her personality and life choices as it takes away the church's weapons but the self-hate she feels made me want to hug her.  She has a family that loves her and friends that are fiercely loyal so she clearly isn't as bad as she makes out and to see her pain at being such an "unworthy" person makes even a tough old boot like me want to weep for her.  This is what scientology did for her - it destroyed her sense of self worth and trust in her own instincts; fortunately she has the people around her to help replenish that.

The Disenchanted Widow by Christina McKenna

I think it's safe to say this one wasn't for me at all.  Unfortunately this was my first book by this author and I already have another 2 purchased - if this book is representative of her work then I am rather regretting my rash purchase of 3 books by an untried author.  I will be honest, the whole Irish thing swayed me - I have said it before, and will doubtless say it many times - there is something about Irish authors writing about their homeland that gets right to the heart of people and situations and drags me straight in.  Maybe that meant I went in to this book with my expectations set way too high, maybe I just didn't like it.

Really this is the story of 4 separate people who are all thrown together by circumstance and set during The Troubles in early 1980s Northern Ireland.  Bessie Lawless/Elizabeth Halstone on the run after her alcoholic husbands demise in a car accident, Gusty Grant the hapless mechanic with hidden proclivities, Father Cassidy moved to a small parish from a big city and Lorcan Strong artist and restorer who returns to his home town.  Their stories mesh and twine around each other set against the back drop of radio and newspaper reports on the Hunger Strikes and the back drop of small town nosiness and gossip.

There is what could be a very good story here, unfortunately I just couldn't enjoy it. 

The insistence of the author to put speech in to a faux Irish dialect really began to grate.  Dialects are spoken, not written, and the constant manipulation of language to try and ineffectually replicate speech drive me to distraction.  We know what an Irish accent sounds like, we understand the vagaries of vowel sounds and consonant combinations so allow the reader to hear the voice instead of foisting it on them.  It is nowhere near as bad as Angela's Ashes which I found completely impenetrable due to the linguistics employed but I really found it annoying.

The characters themselves are pretty much one or two trick ponies.  You get the sense there is something more to them than you are shown but it never gets revealed on the page.  Our main character Bessie remains the hard-faced brassy woman throughout and never deviates from this role.  She has moments of empathy with her son but they are rarely seen and she treats absolutely everyone with wariness or contempt.  This is the one character everything hangs on so you can imagine how little exploration of the others we get.

Having lived through the time period this book is set in (albeit in England) I also didn't really feel a sense of the tension of the time.  I was at an age to start being more aware of what was happening in the world around me and although I felt safe in my small home town any visit to a neighbouring city was fraught with worry - borne out after it was devastatingly bombed by the IRA.  If I felt like that imagine how much worse it was anywhere in Northern Ireland - nowhere was safe and anybody could be a secret paramilitary.  Very scary times that felt almost glossed over.

I will persevere with the other two books but they have slid a long way down my reading list now.

Improvement by Joan Silber

          First thing first, lets talk about the cover of this book - proudly proclaiming it's literary plaudits right there to entice the reader in.  Now, I have a peculiar reverse snobbery about this kind of thing, especially when it takes up the front cover of a book.  As a reader do I really care what critics thought about a book (ironic when you consider how many reviews I, personally, write), as a reader am I really that interested in what awards this or that book have won - particularly awards I have never before heard of.  As a reader I care about the story and that is the top and bottom of it.

Initially I was captivated by the combined stories of Reyna and her Aunt Kiki.  Particularly Kiki's history - a non-conformist who followed her wandering feet and was not afraid to look outside the tenets of her own religion and upbringing to embrace other cultures, other belief systems.  Contrast this with Reyna who appears to have no belief system and feels singularly adrift in the world with only her young son holding her down.

This is going to be good, I thought.  In truth, Part One of the book is indeed very good.  Reyna's story becomes more immersive and you worry for her when Boyd is released from Riker's Island and becomes involved with a cigarette smuggling operation.  You can feel her emotions seeping off the page and just as you are turning the pages to find out what happens next and how she is going to 2rise above" you hit Part Two and things start to disintegrate.

They disintegrate because Part Two is a series of vignettes about disparate people who are linked only to Kiki or Reyna by a chance encounter or a bit player in the story knowing them.  It rapidly descends in to a series of medium length tales about people that we know for a handful of pages then never hear from again, we never hear how their stories turn out.  In fact, we never really hear how Kiki and Reyna's stories turn despite them being revisited in Part Three.

I was disappointed in this as I felt that somehow I had been misled by the blurb of the book.  What does Darisse's tale have to tell us about the people this book purports to be about?  How does it help us to know about Teddy?  What illumination does Dieter, Bruno and Steffi's story shed on Kiki?  The answer, for this reader, is that they don't.  The sad fact is that these are all stories that are stand alone and could have been told with no relation to the people the blurb tells us this story is about it.

Maybe I missed the point, after all it won all these awards.  Maybe I just didn't enjoy it.  Maybe I just didn't "get it" and should leave something literary for those who do.  Maybe it should have been marketed better.

The writing itself is actually very, very good and the author's narrative voice swoops and glides through language and creates believable characters that are interesting.  From that perspective alone it is a very good book, it is the cohesiveness of the tale that disappointed me.  I have given this 3 Stars based on the quality of the writing alone, I could not justify giving it any more despite wanting to acknowledge the author's craft.

THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
       

Drive Me Crazy by Portia McIntosh

Everything about this screams that I shouldn't like it, but I fell completely in love with this quirky romance.

Candice is having an affair with her boss and she has fallen hook, line and sinker for his line that he and his wife are only together because Starr Haulage is a "family business".  I'm not entirely sure whether Candice is naive or desperate but as a start to a book it put my judgmental hackles up.  As the first few chapters progress you see how manipulated she is and how she changes her speech and her dress to please this middle-aged man, allowing him to completely dominate her life - the reason a week long business trip where they can experience a "normal relationship".  I would normally give up at this point and ditch the book, somehow Portia McIntosh kept me reading.

I am so glad she did.

There is just something so charming about the whole thing - watching Candice blossom under her friendship with Geordie Shore when they are forced to take the business trip together is actually rather marvellous.  I don't know if it's the time of year (read a few days before Valentine's Day) but this book gave me the warm fuzzies and made me chuckle.  Yes, some of the scenarios are so far fetched as to beggar belief but there is so much heart within these pages you just find yourself going along with all.

The pacing is fast and there is a fair bit of internal monolguing from Candice (which normally irritates me) but it just works.  It really, really shouldn't and I am sure even the most laissez faire feminist would have palpitations at the contents but, it is FUN and what more can you ask for?

The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty

Having felt really let down in the recent past by this genre of novel I was a little apprehensive going in to this one.  After all, it had all the hallmarks of disappointment splattered all over it.  Four women who have been friends since secondary school who are still grimly clutching on to that friendship well in to middle age and the secrets that they are harbouring from each other.  Secrets that they are now set to reveal.

Fortunately, I found this to be an engaging read.  Not a challenging one and I didn't find myself trying to second guess who had written what and who was behind that explosive Fifth Letter.  I just went along for the ride and enjoyed watching the stories of the four women unfold on the page.

Joni is a fairly reliable narrator and although she has her faults (as Trina, Eden and Deb do) she is honest about her manipulations and mistakes.  Quite why The Confessional looms so large is a bit confusing initially but even that gets tied up with a neat little bow at the end - a neat little bow that could possibly lead to a follow up on these four.

You do get the feeling reading through that the friendships only endure out of nostalgia as they are such disparate personalities and are clearly growing further and further apart as they move through life.  Even through the medium of open letters nobody tells the whole truth and still hold secrets close that eventually get displayed to the others - strangely, this seems to bring them closer than they have ever been. 

There are some surprises along the way and the nature of friendship is explored quite well.  I especially enjoyed the way the women related to each other and how Joni and the elusive author give their view of whats happening - just a shame that we only really see Eden and Trina through their eyes.  Completely unsentimental in it's telling I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

After a great start in Clockwork Angel, I was really disappointed with this continuation of the tale of Tessa, Will, Jem, Charlotte and Henry.  The world they inhabit has already been built but there seemed to be a great deal of rehashing of facts in this one.  Mortmain is still on the loose, as is Tessa's brother Nate, but this seems to be pretty much a sub-plot to Tessa's romantic intentions to both Jem and Will.  To be honest this book would have been half the length if we could have removed all the romantic asides and "listening" to Tessa's internal monologue about the two Shadowhunter boys.  In my opinion that would have probably made it a better book as the whole thing just feels really uncomfortable.

The only reason this book managed to get 3 Stars from me was that when we get immersed in the world of the Nephilim or the Downworlders it comes alive on the page.  From the Ifrit Dens of Whitechapel to an elaborate ball and the Silent City it all is so richly described you get sucked in to this fantastical re-imagining of London.  Even better we finally get introduced to the Lightwoods (and we all know how Gabriel turns out!) during Benedict's attempt to wrestle The Institute from Charlotte and Henry's hands - this is quite an important introduction as they are major players in the Mortal Instruments series.

Beyond the walls of The Institute or when the Clave are in meeting nothing much really happens.  They are supposedly searching for Mortmain but there seems to be no urgency about this at all.  Jessamine and Nate both make little more than Cameo appearances (and it would be a major spoiler if I brought those up).  A few of the automatons pop up from time to time but with no real sense of menace, until the end. Mortmain himself remains clinging to the shadows and it is all just a bit of a damp squib to be honest.

Maybe I was expecting too much of this after loving Clockwork Angel but I wanted more of the Steampunk Victorian Downworld and what I got was a far more simpering tale of romance and brotherly love.

The Ludlow Ladies Society by Ann O'Loughlin

I was completely taken by surprise by this book, when I first started reading I thought it was going to be a bit of a miserable read but I soon got completely sucked in to this fictional world.  Yes, a lot has happened to these women and not every negative is turned in to a positive, the author allows their trauma to affect them and leave wounds and scars whilst still giving the reader a sense of hope.

The conceit to bring them together is the creation of the Memory Quilts for the Rosdaniel Fair and as a device it works beautifully.  It allows Hetty to finally open up about the reality of her marriage, Eve to move on from her husband's suicide when they lose Ludlow Hall and for Connie to start coming to turns with the loss of her daughter Molly.  Each of the three suffered in their marriages, each being abused in different ways, but have outlived their husbands and are struggling to forge forward with life.

This could have been an entirely depressing tale but somehow the author makes it feel uplifting and generates a real sense of hope that the future can be better.  It's not an easy journey for any of them but for Connie and Eve they really go through the wringer as new facts to light that send their accepted views of the world in a tailspin.  With the support of each other and, to a lesser extent, the Ludlow Ladies Society, they manage to exorcise some of their demons and start to move forward.  Poor Hetty doesn't seem to want to move any further forward but she does seem to be content in her new, solo life and that's okay too.

Told at a gentle pace you have to wait for each of the women to reveal their particular heartbreaks.  There are a couple of "surprises" along the way that the reader does see coming (or at least has an inkling about them) but I never felt cheated by the obvious being revealed.  The story itself grips you and the leisurely pacing makes it somehow more absorbing, allowing you to feel that you really get to know the characters along the way.

Ann O'Loughlin was a completely new author to me and I am so glad I stumbled across this book.  I am now going to have to take a look at her previous books as if this is indicative of the quality of her writing how could I not?

One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis

2.5 Stars

Vicky doesn't make one little mistake she makes a huge, glaring disaster of things but we are supposed to feel sympathy for her.  On the face of things she appears to have everything (loving husband, smart house in a wealthy neighbourhood that has great schools for her 3 children and a support network of friends).  In reality, she is always looking for greener pastures - the book starts with her ending an affair that she is adamant isn't an affair because she pulled out of things before they got "physical".  From the get go she paints herself as a bit of a "victim" and, to be honest, I wondered why this woman has any friends at all - even if they are, in the majority, the brief acquaintances you make at the school gates.  An entirely unsympathetic character that is incapable of owning her own actions and it is this that leads to her eventual downfall.

Her best friend is Amber who is, at least initially, a far more sympathetic character.  Married to a man she doesn't love who she thought could improve her status in life but who has proved to be a shambolic let down.  Envious of her friends who have a better husband, a perceived better standard of living and who clearly has a "past".  The author tries very hard to cast her in a role of master manipulator but falls short.

Initially there is some tension built by the flashbacks to the young child, Katya and her obsession with her Social Worker's daughter, Emily.  Which of these two women had this trauma in their background?  Unfortunately, the premature reveal of one of the women's mother's first name makes it clear exactly what the relationship between Vicky and Amber is and as that is the only real mystery going on in the book it soon becomes a trudge through rather vapid prose to get to the end.

I suppose it opens up some sort of dialogue regarding obsession and it's related mental health issues.  It also looks at the choice parents make about their children - I do find it hard to by in to the whole "leave your baby alone in the house whilst you go house hunting" shtick hard to countenance.  Leaving a sleeping child strapped in to their car seat whilst you buy a pint of a milk is entirely believable but the rest of it, not so much.

In short, this was a disappointing book with a plot that was as flimsy as tissue paper and with characters that I just didn't like.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

3.5 Stars

I've not read much Sophie Kinsella (this is only my second novel by the author) and I will readily admit that I am still pretty much on the fence.  This was an okay book, better than average certainly but not in a way that made me immediately want to go and read her back catalogue.  Which is strange really when you consider that Ms Kinsella really does know how to construct a plot, how to weave disparate characters in to the story and come out with a relatively cohesive whole at the end.

It is the characters I have issue with.  In this book our lead character is one Fawn "Fixie" Farr and if you ever want a poster girl for being a doormat that's Fixie.  Unfortunately, I didn't find her to be a likeable doormat.  Fixie is definitely on the annoying spectrum and even when she starts to wise up a little tiny bit she still infuriated me.  Then you have her airy-fairy sister Nicole and her pratt of a big brother, Jake.  Throw in a generous dash of wastrel Ryan and smoothy Seb and everyone was beginning to get on my nerves by the end.  For about 90% of the book everyone has a very narrow personality that has only a couple of traits and then in the last 10% everyone suddenly gets a shot of reality and develops another trait making them just about three dimensional.

Fortunately, the plot does manage to salvage something from these people and I did find myself wanting things to turn out okay for the business.  The romance side of things was less interesting for me, probably because I really didn't like anyone in the book.  However, the tale of the independent Farrs struggling in a competitive world was interestingly wrought and the ups and downs of business were realised quite well.  Unusually there were even references to the financial side of things with the roller coaster that can be.  It did make me wish that every High Street had an Aladdin's Cave of a store like Farrs.

So, this book gave me somewhat of a dilemma.  The writing is very strong and the author made me care about the story but not the people in it.  The romantic themes were a little odd with the whole coffee sleeve (strangely called a Zarf in reality) and it's promisory notes bringing two people together.  It was a fun move away from more cliched meet ups but there are still the misunderstandings to go through before true love can be found (I think I'm feeling cynical at the time of writing).  Family frictions are brought up well, especially the tension between siblings that never really seems to go away, no matter how old they get.  So strong writing, a patchy plot and characters I just did not warm too - how do you come up with a rating on a star system for that?

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE

The Familiars by Stacey Halls

          Despite the length of this book I read it in one day and, more or less, one sitting.  Maybe it helps that Gawthorpe Hall (where the majority of the book is set) is about 6 miles from my home so I was brought up on the legends of Pendle.  Somehow I think that is far less important than how immersive the setting is and how real the characters are.

Set in the 1620s when Gloriana has handed her throne to the Scottish King who has brought his twin paranoias of witchcraft and popery to England, any woman is not safe.  For centuries wise woman have practised using herbs and plants to treat all manner of ailments suddenly they are at risk of being branded a witch, especially if they have a "falling out" with a neighbour.  Couple this with the prevailing ideals of womanhood at the time it is a precarious time to be a strong, free spirited woman and, despite only being 17, this is definitely what Fleetwood Shuttleworth is.  When she is pregnant for the fourth time and in fear of both her life and the child's she turns to a local midwife to help her and finds her self subsumed in to the witch trials.

Told entirely from Fleetwood's perspective it portrays the events surrounding the arrest and trial of the Nutter and Devizes families with no holds barred.  Being a pragmatic woman Fleetwood is convinced that the hysteria is nothing more than the ambition of an ageing man who wants to gain favour with the king and when her midwife is arrested on charges of associating with these families and being a witch herself she steps from the shadows of the solar to try and disprove the charges.

The book gives you not only an insight in to the legal processes of the time but also the daily lives of a young, wealthy family in a post-Elizabethan England.  From Fleetwood and Richard's interests in the Playhouses to the way in which the household operates.  It covers the importance of appearances but also how machiavellian even the simple act of greeting a fellow land owner on a hunt can be.

The level of research by the author is clear and not only are Fleetwood's surroundings brought to life but you get a real sense of the times and the huge gulf between the haves and the have-nots.  There are also recognisably modern themes of manipulation and misunderstanding - never more clearly than those shown between Fleetwood and her own mother.

Even if Historical Fiction is not usually a genre you enjoy this book really does transcend the genre.  So fresh and alive are the people you can almost see them in the shadows living out their tale.

THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA READERS FIRST.
       

Gallowstree Lane by Kate London

          2.5 Stars

This book starts off in an extremely promising way.  A young black man is stabbed in the thigh and his best friend witnesses it, terrified of the repercussions he fades in to the night and leaves his friend with an off duty paramedic.  The young man dies on the roadside and as the police arrive it initially looks like just another turf war but it soon becomes apparent that it reaches much, much further than that. 

I was so excited about this book until I got about 70 pages in.  First off, whilst being authentic, it has my pet peeve - British youth speaking like they are from South Central Los Angeles, all this blud and calling police the Feds.  Yes, I know they do it but it makes me irrationally angry so seeing either (or both) term cropping up every few pages grated.  This, however, is purely personal and has not affected the rating I have given this book.

The low rating is simply because I really did not enjoy the story.  It is clear from our first introduction to Sarah Collins that we are already supposed to know these members of the Police Force.  I have not read either of the previous two books by Kate London so Kieran Shaw, Lizzie Graham and Sarah are completely new characters to me.  Because there is no narrator here you are relying on the text to provide you with clues to their personalities.  Sadly, it seems to be assumed that we already know these people.  There are references to previous cases but these shed no light on the people.

With no way of getting in to a character's personality you are left with a series of events.  Undoubtedly the procedures described are realistic and describe accurately how investigations in the 21st Century are run.  Regrettably, this means that there are long periods of sitting around doing little with sudden bursts of activity.  Normally I would expect this to be filled with a sense of camaraderie between officers (think Lynda La Plante or Carol Wylie) but there is none of that here.  This downtime is used for an insight in to mental waffling about the case which neither furthers the readers understanding of events or moves the plot on.

Fortunately the story swaps between the police and the members of the Eardsley Bluds that are being investigated for 3 crimes that all somehow link.  Because these are clearly new people on the author's stage we do get a sense of Shakiel and learn quite a lot about Ryan.  It was these sections (even if their language irritated me) that kept me reading.

Suffice to say I will not be going back and reading this author's first two books.  I found myself just not interested enough in the recurring characters to want to try and find out more about them.

THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
       

You by Caroline Kepnes

3.5 Stars

This is a deeply disturbing book about the nature of obsession.  If it had just been that Joe was strange stalker it would have been uncomfortable but for the object of his affections to be as damaged as he made it very disturbing if you stop and think about the themes generated in the story.  Both the characters are fairly unpleasant people and have pretensions about themselves that you only really find in city dwelling students in their early 20s - life soon knocks a great deal of that out of you if you manage to escape academia.

The narrative is all from Joe's point of view and the way he skews events to suit his own ego is absolutely horrifying - the true thought process of the psychopath.  You soon realise that for Joe nothing is really there or real unless he is experiencing it and that he has the right to manipulate every event to his own ends and to fit his own agenda.  I loved the way the author weaves Beck's narrative in to the tale by virtue of Joe monitoring her email conversations with friends.  In some ways these two really do deserve each other, but when two narcissists collide it is never going to be pretty.

As much as I enjoyed the book I had to think long and hard about how to rate it.  You see, there are issues here - one of my main problems was the disposal of, what we learn is, Joe's second victim; it just isn't feasible for this to occur.  Shamefully, I have also been swayed by popular opinion and started wondering if it was really as great as many are making it out to be.  Truthfully, it is a very good book of the genre and details the pre-occupation of early twenty-somethings with their self image, how they gain validation from Social Media and how carnal pleasure is some sort of holy grail.  Honestly, all the physicality didn't bother me - it sits right with the characters.  However, as good as it may be I fear that this is through the "shock value" of the tale being told from the wrong side of this story.  Usually we hear from the victim or the investigators with only a rare interjection from the criminal.  I am also struggling with my mental comparisons with American Psycho (the film as I haven't read the book) as being a baseline that Joe is based on and finding him somehow lacking.

On the whole this is a good, strong psychological thriller told from an unusual perspective - a perspective that does make you wonder how the author manages to get under the skin of someone so damaged.

The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester

4.5 Stars

At first I was completely absorbed in Estella's story and when the story jumped ahead 70 years to Fabienne I was really unhappy as all I really wanted to do was read about Estella and find out just how she had an American father, allowing her to escape ahead of the invasion.  I soon got past that as Fabienne sucked me in to.

What I particularly liked about this book was the humanness of all the characters.  Even though the Wehrmacht were terrifying to Estella she never depersonalised them, although there is (fortunately) little of them in the book you always got the sense that they were people first and foremost and war machines second.  In fact, that is true of all the people in the book - nobody is there just to provide one example of human nature, even the horrendous Harry Thaw is more than just his sadism.

I would have liked to learn more about Janie and Sam through the book.  They are constants in Estella's life and clearly her only support network for much of her life in America and yet we see so little of them.  At least she has friends and people to rely on, by contrast her granddaughter, Fabienne, does appear to be truly alone in the world.  Although, I can fully understand why, although I enjoyed her story I never really warmed to Fabienne.  She comes across as very high maintenance (emotionally speaking) and you can see how this would push people away.

Historically there are some liberties taken with events but the depiction of a Paris under occupation is completely heartbreaking.  The way it deals with the choices people made was very well done and I like that Estella, whilst denigrating the collaborators, also accepts that for some women this was their only way to survive or for their children to survive.  Nice to see the women who made this choice not be made out to be less than human as they so often are.

Plot wise the story is well constructed and has a good narrative flow, once you get used to the way we move from Estella to Fabienne and back again.  The only thing that bothered me (and caused me to dock half a star) was that the time shifts became entirely predictable and always left either character on a cliffhanger.  The little fashion details scattered throughout were little gems (or maybe gold silk roses), although it did remind me of Shirley Conran's Lace in the descriptions of Estella's desires for Stella Designs to provide affordable clothing that was suited to a more modern life.

A wonderful tale that does lead you to want to research the Occupation of France and the Resistance.  It also reminds you that Dior's New Look would look just as good today as it did then.

Queen Of The Hill by Genevieve Jack

The author has certainly settled in to the world she has created, there is more certainty about locations and the characters interact in far more realistic ways.  This made it easier for me to subsume myself in this fantasy world and really enjoy the story.  Yes, there are still some things that bother me about the writing and the scenarios but I have found that they are becoming fewer as time passes and the series continues.

Grateful is certainly responding well to her new situation live and is now beginning to accept the responsibility for the town on to her shoulders.  This is never more clearly demonstrated than when she "interferes" with the choice of leader for the Vampire Coven, I particularly enjoyed the way she argued with herself about the rights and wrongs of doing so, really brought the character to life in ways that she hasn't in previous books.  The downside to it all was that the truth of what happened was pretty obvious from Grateful's first visit to her sister's house (remind anyone else of Grimm's fairytales?)

I have to admit I raced through this book and was intrigued to find out what happened next.  Even if I find Grateful's relationship with Rick extremely uncomfortable - the co-dependent nature of it makes me feel that it is neither of their choices and that without the magical element of their want their would be no relationship.  Not that she would be any better off with Logan.

The character of Poe definitely brings some much needed light relief.  He is one raven with attitude and his snarky comments really break the tension in a way that does not detract from the story.  In all honesty, the bits incorporating him in to the story are some of the best bits of the book.

This is a good solid, fantasy read with a magical system that is clearly explained and allows each magical character to have their strengths and weaknesses.  Because of this any challenge that comes up has multiple solutions and you can never be sure which way Grateful is going to go - although she does seem to favour the violent Nightshade led approach.

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

Right now I hate myself, if hate isn't too strong a word to direct at yourself.  The fourth book in a series and I am still lavishing praise and coming over all fangirl (seriously, the last time that happened was the Harry Potter books).

Broken Homes brings us everything we have come to expect from Peter Grant - a tediously normal setting where exceptionally peculiar things happen.  I did miss the MIT from previous books who regularly exhort Peter to keep the weird stuff away from them, but this book is set off their patch; unfortunately nobody at the Crawley Nick, or the Elephant & Castle one measure up.  Nightingale is also fairly absent in this book with the majority of the action set around a fictitious London Sink Estate with Peter and Lesley undercover.

As always Peter narrates the tale and it is the, by now well-loved, series of dollops of realism for procedure and sarcasm.  I think this is why this series is giving me so much reading enjoyment - the narrator's voice is a strong thread throughout and one that urges you to keep reading, find out what happens next - even if it is only going out to walk Toby.

There is a major twist at the end of this book that really did come out of the blue for me.  So much so I sat with my mouth open like an idiot for a few seconds before continuing to read.  Peter reacts in his usual semi-naive way to it all and I really hope his rationalisation of the events is borne out.

When a fantasy world this strong is created you cannot help but fall a little in love.  An exceptional series that I just know I will be re-reading over the years to come.

The Happy Home For Ladies by Lilly Bartlett and Michele Gorman

The setting for this book is a country house that has been turned in to a residential home for ladies - and ladies only.  With a token male on the staff, a barely there male owner and a cantankerous male neighbour the first thing you notice is that the book is resolutely anti-male.  You always expect a little bit of this to creep in to any book in the genre but men are dealt with quite harshly in this book.  Even Phoebe's almost stalker like crush on Nick doesn't allow us to see him as more than an object of desire.  As you can probably tell, the lack of gender balance in the book annoyed me.

We are promised that this is "an hilarious romcom".  No, it really is not either of those things.  Without exception the relationships described in this book are severely toxic.  I struggled to find even a smirk let alone a laugh whilst reading.  The only thing that saved this book from the ignominy of the 1 Star review was that some of the scenes set in the home were actually quite endearing - particularly the friendship that burgeons between Lacey and Maggie, two long time residents that seemingly have nothing in common but become each other's support network.

Some of the themes raised in the book could do with further exploration and if the authors had stuck to extrapolating on those and made this book about friendships and the perceptions of the older generation then I think it could have been a much better book.  Phoebe, and the home manager Jane, are both pretty much unlikeable characters - as a narrator Phoebe grated on my nerves because any view she presents I perceived as skewed to paint her in the best possible light when half of the time she was merely reaping what she sowed.

I was relieved to complete this book and very disappointed having enjoyed some of Ms Bartlett's previous output - maybe it was the collaboration that scuppered the book?

Go West by David Quantick

The first thing that struck me about this story is the writing itself, you can clearly hear David Quantick's voice narrating the tale to you as you read; which is no bad thing.  In fact I found it strangely soothing.  I have read other books by "names" and wondered where their voice was, so much so you start to wonder if the novel itself was ghost written - this one very clearly isn't.

The second thing you realise is that this is a genuinely funny book and should not be read in a public place - sniggering in the office gets you very peculiar looks and you will find you can't help but snigger.  The third thing is that you have no clue what the heck is going on here and you just have to throw yourself on the mercy of the author and go with it.  The confusion doesn't matter so much though, it's some glaring errors and inconsistencies that bother you - sadly frequent enough that they lost Mr Quantick 1 Star on this review (I couldn't bring myself to rate this a 3 Star read as much as it deserves to be for the many mistakes as it is just too darn good). 

There is a large nostalgic element to this book.  Not just the discussion of antiques and practises of fakery which loom quite large early on - this information is necessary for the book to work, well kind of.  The nostalgia comes in based on the John Peel sections and, make no mistake, John Peel is a recurring theme throughout the book and the late great Tommy Vance even gets a mention so I was a happy bunny.  Less happy with Charlie Bread's dismissal of Peter Pan but you can't have everything.

I would discuss the plot but I am still not entirely sure how we got to the denouement.  We do though and although feeling kind of rushed to get there (was the deadline looming?) it does tie everything up and make you go "Oh, so that's what was going on!".  There is a lot of joy in getting there and a nice tour of the country from Reading to Exeter with disparate locations inbetween.  When I say disparate, I actually mean random - almost as if navigatory aides do not exist.

Charlie Bread himself is a great character, he knows his limitations and proves to be a fairly reliable narrator.  We only know the other people he interacts with through the prism of his voice but somehow they still live and breathe on the page - even the peculiar Three For One Inn men.

If plot inconsistencies bother you then this book will drive you batty.  If you can overlook them to find the joy in the writing and the peculiar situations facing Bread then you will love it.  It really is going to be a "marmite book" as there isn't much room for fence sitting with this one.  I'm definitely a love it side of the fence.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.