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WATCH ME BY JAMES CAROL (JEFFERSON WINTER #2)

My Rating: 4/5

Availability: Paperback, Kindle and Kobo

Synopsis: Ex-FBI profiler Jefferson Winter has taken a new case in sunny Louisiana, where the only thing more intense than the heat is a killer on the loose in the small town of Eagle Creek. But in a town where secrets are rife and history has a way of repeating itself, can Winter solve the case before someone else dies?

My Review: I read the first Jefferson Winter Book (Broken Dolls) and absolutely LOVED It. I was looking forward to once again meeting the white haired, Whisky loving profiler Jefferson Winter. Jefferson has a unique angle from his job as his father was once a serial killer. This makes Jefferson a somewhat more complex character than most. However, when it comes down to it, he seems reasonably sound considering his circumstances. He does however have a habit of drinking too much coffee, smoking too many cigarettes and partaking in great whiskey (in other words a very readable and likeable bloke).

He is essentially freelance so when the latest case comes to his attention he jumps on a place bound for Louisiana. He’s met by man-mountain named Taylor who just clicked with Winter from the second they meet. Jefferson has his work cut out trying to figure out the latest case and the murder he has witnessed on screen seems to be only the beginning.

The actual story itself was told well and there was enough threads and intrigue to keep me very interested. However, although the story didn’t have quite the same pull that the first book did, the characters definitely held my attention. For some reason Jefferson, Taylor and Hannah (the owner of the place Jefferson is staying) just worked. The dynamic between them was good and I really hope this book isn’t the last we see of them!

I think this outing was definitely a page turner, however didn’t quite live up to the first book. Having said that I think this series has huge potential and most definitely has me hooked already. I can’t wait to see where Winter goes next and will really look forward to reading the next book.

The French for Love by Fiona Valpy

My Rating: 4/5

Availability: Paperback and Kindle

Synopsis: Can happy-ever-after get lost in translation?

Gina has lost her perfect job, her boyfriend and her favourite aunt all within the space of a few months. So when she inherits her aunt’s ramshackle French house, Gina decides to pack her bags for the Bordeaux countryside – swapping English weather for blue skies, sunshine, great wine and a fresh start. What she hasn’t factored in is a hole in the roof, the most embarrassing language faux pas, and discovering family secrets that she was never supposed to know.

Suddenly feeling a long way from home, Gina will have to rely on new found friends, her own hard work – and Cédric – her charming, mysterious and très handsome new stonemason. But whilst desire needs no translation, love is a different matter. Can Gina overcome the language barrier to make her French dream come true?

My Review: The synopsis is certainly not original and I have seen these ‘relocations and fresh starts’ many times in other books. However, Fiona Valpy has done the MOST important thing in my opinion. She has managed to weave a tale that is descriptive enough to actually take me to France in my mind and picture the village and house, as well as giving me the main character Gina who I just fell in love with. If you can get the setting right, and characters that are likeable that’s half the battle.

Gina seems to have lost everything in a very short space of time including her boyfriend, her job and now her aunt. Her aunt has left her ramshackle farmhouse in France to Gina and she decides to give life in France a try…after all she has nothing holding her back now. We watch as she makes a fresh start and decides to take time out and study, as well as adjust to a slower pace of life. When the roof on the farmhouse is damaged in high winds, her wonderful neighbour Mereille involves her four sons in the repairs.

In the meantime, Gina is discovering that her Aunt Liz had secrets of her own. Gina starts to delve and soon realises that there was more to her Aunt than she originally thought. This along with the wonderful storyline that involves Gina working on her Masters of Wine qualification makes for a very interesting read. This book was a wonderful and uplifting read, just perfect for a beach, a plane or even a comfy sofa. It will transport you to the beautiful area in Southern France and give you a much needed break from real life.

I am so pleased I got around to reading this book and was especially pleased at the Epilogue (I do love it when authors add this in). I am now totally ready to read another book in this series and cannot wait.

*It may be worth noting that the ‘French Series’ is not a continuation with the characters, merely a series of books based in France *

Cruel Justice by M A Comley (Justice Series #1)

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My Rating: 3/5

Availability: Paperback, Kindle, Nook and Kobo

Synopsis: The headless body of a wealthy widow is discovered decomposing in Chelling Forest. Then a second victim is found. Detective Inspector Lorne Simpkins and her partner, DS Pete Childs are assigned the case.

Before they can discover the identity of the killer they must make a connection between the two victims.

After a third murder, Lorne receives a grisly surprise. Clearly, a vicious serial killer is on a rampage…and Lorne has become the killer’s fixation.

Lorne can’t allow her failing marriage or her new boss–a man with whom she shares a sensuous secret–keep her from focusing on her job. She must catch the macabre murderer, or risk becoming the next victim.

My Review: I was looking forward to reading the first in the Justice Series by Mel Comley as I keep seeing such great things about it. I am however very behind considering I think she has now released book 10 in the series’ most recently. Detective Lorne Simpkins is the main lead of this series and it seems from the very beginning that all is not well in her marriage. Along with her partner DS Pete Childs they seem to work long and laborious hours. When a headless body is found, it seems their next long and arduous case has been found.

I certainly liked Lorne however although she was a good character and the writing was pretty good, there were parts of the story that felt a bit too stilted and maybe not as realistic as they could have. We meet additional characters but none that leave you wanting to know too much more. The story was interesting and certainly kept me reading, but there were parts that just weren’t authentic enough for me.

Having said all of that, the writing was great and flowed well and although Lorne may not be a favourite character she held my interest. I think that this is a great start to a series, and am pretty sure that Mel Comley, like other authors has just improved with each book she writes. I am actually looking forward to how this series progresses and have already ordered book 2. Certainly a series that has a lot of potential and is great for people looking for new authors.

From Notting Hill With Four Weddings Actually by Ali McNamara

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My Rating: 5/5

Availability: Paperback, Kindle, Released 23.10.14

Synopsis: Movie addict Scarlett O’Brien is finally living the jet-setting life she’s dreamed of – but it all hangs by a shiny, golden thread.

Flying between London and New York, running two businesses, planning her wedding to handsome fiancé, Sean, with best friends Oscar and Maddie – life couldn’t be better.

But then Scarlett meets paparazzi darling, Gabriella Romero, and life suddenly becomes even more extravagant and glamorous. As she begins to experience the other side to being rich and famous, it’s not only Scarlett’s perfect wedding that’s put in jeopardy, but her whole world.

**Please note if you would like to read this series in order, please don’t continue with my review as it will inevitably contain spoilers**

Continue reading “From Notting Hill With Four Weddings Actually by Ali McNamara”

First Love by James Patterson

My Rating: 4/5

Availability: Hardcover, Paperback (14.04.15), Kindle, Audio, Nook and Kobo

Synopsis: An extraordinary portrait of true love that will move anyone who has a first love story of their own.

When Axi Moore decides to take a road trip across the US, the only person she wants to go with her is her best friend Robinson – who she also happens to be secretly in love with. She’s planned it all out, and all he has to do is say yes.

Axi has had a tough life: her little sister died young, her mother walked out and her father turned to the bottle for comfort. Her parents escaped their grief in their own ways; this trip will be hers. But life doesn’t always work out as you plan it, and there are some things you just can’t run away from.

My Review: I knew this wouldn’t be a typical Patterson Book and the cover gave away very little. When I read the synopsis, I have to say I wasn’t overly excited but still got stuck in. The first thing that struck me was it seems more like a Young Adult novel (it may well be for all I know). I also don’t say that as a negative as it’s written beautifully. We meet the two your adults Axi and Robinson as they run away and decide to take a road trip.

Their motivation becomes clear very quickly and between them they seem to have experienced many trials and tribulations for their young ages. Before long we see them take small steps in opening up to each other and becoming the people they think they want to be. It is also while we are seeing them experiment with different things that we learn of their histories. The story itself is nothing short of heart wrenching.

There are moments in the book where I feel it’s going too far towards the unrealistic, but to be honest I didn’t actually care that much. The characters and their lives are what make the book interesting, heart-warming, sad and very readable. There are moments of recklessness and moments when you just want to sob into your hands. Overall, although the feel of the book leans towards the younger crown, I thought it was a beautifully written book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

SAVING GRACE BY JANE GREEN

My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Grace Chapman has an enviable set-up, living comfortably with her husband, bestselling author Ted, in a picture-perfect farmhouse on the Hudson River in New York State.

Then Ted advertises for a new assistant, and Beth walks into their lives. Organized, passionate and eager to learn, Beth quickly makes herself indispensable to Ted and his family. But Grace soon begins to feel side-lined in her home – and her marriage – by this ambitious younger woman.

Is Grace just paranoid, as her husband tells her, or is there more to Beth than there first appears?

My Review: I just loved the sound of this latest Jane Green book. It kind of has that ‘Single White Female’ feel to it. Grace Chapman is a woman seemingly living on the edge. Within the first few chapters I absolutely loathed her bullying author husband. However, a few chapters in and you realise that Grace knows no different. Her life has been ruled and surrounded by people that control the way she feels. On the surface she has the perfect marriage. Everyone seems to fawn over her bestselling author husband Ted Chapman (Lord knows why). Ted used to have an assistant Ellen, who had to suddenly leave to care for her Mother. It now seems like Grace has even more pressure upon her as her life seems to get even more disorganised by the minute.

Enter Beth! From the minute the reader meets Beth you just know there is something not quite right about her. Beth has by chance been introduced to Grace and seems like the answer to her prayers. Before long Beth has managed to integrate herself into Grace and Ted’s lives and has become almost indispensable. The way Jane Green has written Beth’s character makes it clear that something isn’t right but you just don’t quite know what. It meant I just had to keep reading, and dinner would have to wait.

Pretty soon Grace feels like she is losing her mind as her life seems to slowly slip away from her. I love reading books like this that make me want to stand up and shout and scream at Grace to see sense. Jane Green has done another stellar job in weaving a tale of an ordinary woman whose life becomes somewhat disjointed. The book kept me reading until slowly the layers of deceit and betrayal are unravelled. The only reason I didn’t score this 5/5 is that there were a couple of points in the story that didn’t quite sit right with me towards the end. Other than that another fantastic read.

But For The Grace of God by Paul Grzegorzek

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My Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Life is about choices, those already made and those yet to come.

For John Cooper, more than most, this is especially true. Lost, hopeless and alone, he drifts through the Brighton underworld, a slave to his heroin habit and all but forgetting the man he used to be as he succumbs, dose by dose, to the drug that is both sustaining and killing him.

The only people of import in his life are Mandy, a 16 year old prostitute who he cares for like a daughter, and Phil, mid-thirties and suffering from autism, a fact that many of the local drug dealers use to their advantage as they get him to ferry drugs all over the city.

When Phil dies of a suspected overdose, however, John’s long-buried instincts begin to rise to the surface. Knowing that his friend would never use drugs, he begins to investigate what he knows is a murder when the police fail to show any interest.

Unwittingly, John plunges himself and everyone around him into a murky world of drugs, violence and betrayal, all the while struggling against the addiction that consumes him.

My Review: From the very beginning of this book I was gripped. John is, although an addict, an immensely likeably bloke. It seems like the only people in John’s life are a 16 year old prostitute Mandy and an autistic guy named Phil. Life is the norm’ for John as he goes about his days waiting for the next fix. When Phil is found dead John instantly knows he has been the victim of a murder and not suicide like the police seem to be convinced by. At this early stage in the book we see John suddenly show a side to him from his previous years, as a copper!

As the story heats up Joh struggles to get anybody to take him seriously, but his persistence means other people in his life pay the price. The knock on effect for John is one that will have him putting his own life at risk to tell the truth. Between that and watching him try desperately to kick the habit, you can’t help but root for him! I really liked some of the other characters that appear such as Hannah and Gareth Bell. The story itself was brilliant and I read this (for the second time) in just over a day. There is plenty of action, as well as some dark and very serious moments. The book had my emotions ping-ponging all over the shop. I can honestly say I enjoyed it as much the second time around (if not more).

There is one thing that baffles me though about this author. Before anybody asks the question, no I am not related to him and no I do not get paid for my opinion! Why on earth after 4 amazing books has this guy not been picked up and handed a publishing deal on a plate? I am certainly not an expert on the matter but I know what I like and I read a hell of a lot of books each year. I think Publishers are majorly missing out with this guy and feel compelled to ask the question why???? Having checked the reviews from all 4 books on Amazon it seems like nearly 80% of his reviews rate his books at 4 or 5 stars. Sometimes the book world baffles me. All I can say is if you want a gripping and enthralling read for less than the cost of a pint, this bad boy is the one!

A Place to Call Home by Carole Matthews

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My Rating: 4/5

Availability: Hardback, Paperback, Kindle, Audio, Kobo

Synopsis: In the dead of night, Ayesha takes her daughter, Sabina, and slips quietly from her home, leaving behind a life full of pain. Boarding a coach to London, all Ayesha wants is a fresh start.

Hayden, a former pop star, has kept himself hidden away for years. He’s only opened up his home to two people – Crystal, a professional dancer with a heart of gold, and Joy, an ill-tempered retiree with a soft spot for waifs and strays.

When Crystal asks Hayden if Ayesha and Sabina can stay with them, he reluctantly agrees and, as different as they may be, they quickly form an unlikely bond. So when enemies threaten their peaceful home, they will do all they can to save it and each other.

Continue reading “A Place to Call Home by Carole Matthews”

If You Were Me by Sheila O’Flanagan

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My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: On a sultry summer evening in Seville, anything can happen…

Carlotta O’Keefe is happily engaged, and the wedding plans are coming together. She’s clear about her future path, both personally and in her busy career. Maybe Chris doesn’t make her heart race every time she sees him, but you can’t have that feeling for ever. Can you?

Then, on a trip to Seville, Carlotta runs into Luke Evans. Luke broke her heart so long ago she’d almost convinced herself she’d forgotten him. Now, he’s not that boy any more, but an attractive and intriguing man. And he can explain everything that happened way back when. Suddenly Carlotta’s not so sure of anything anymore. Except that what she decides now will shape the rest of her life…

My Review: This book had a very enticing cover (as I think most of SOF’s do) and I couldn’t wait to get started. Carlotta O’Keefe is engaged to Chris and between them they both have busy careers’. I didn’t take to Chris from the outset, he seemed like Mr Perfect and frankly, that never sits right with me. We meet Chris dominating family and see Carlotta struggle to keep everybody happy. The opening few chapters see Carlotta try and fail miserably to return to Dublin for her Mother-In-Law’s party. Without realising it Carlotta is about to set off a chain of events that will change everything.

The first few chapters actually had me laughing as I think many people can identify with Carlotta from the outset. She manages to oversleep whilst in Seville on a business trip and then running late and missing trains. It makes the transition to the next part of the story a lot easier. Upon her return to the hotel she runs into Luke Evans, her childhood best friend and that’s where the story gets interesting.

I immensely loved Luke Evans from the start, even though it’s clear that his journey from childhood into adulthood has been far from easy. We start to get to see glimpses of Carlotta’s younger years and her friendship with Luke. We also (albeit slowly) get to find out what went on with Luke’s family many years before. The book is over 400 pages long and although longer than recent books I’ve read it still only took me a day and a half to finish it.

I was a little bit shocked by one turn of event towards the end of the book, but overall it was as usual a wonderful read from O’Flanagan. She manages to not only tell a wonderful story with characters you love, but also throws on the sights and sounds of the places Carlotta visits in too. A fabulous read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Stolen Girl by Renita D’Silva

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My Rating: 4/5

Availability: Paperback, Kindle, Nook and Kobo

Synopsis: ‘Your mother has been arrested. She stole you.’

For as long as thirteen-year-old Diya can remember, it’s always been just her and her mum, Vani. Despite never staying in one place long enough to call it home, with her mother by her side, Diya has never needed anything else. Then, in an instant, Diya’s fragile world is shattered. Her mother is arrested, accused of abducting Diya when she was a baby… Vani has spent a lifetime looking over her shoulder, determined to make the best possible life for her daughter. Now she must fight for her child, re-opening the door to her own childhood in India and the woman who was once as close to her as a sister. Told through the eyes of Diya, Vani and Aarti, this is a heart-breaking story of friendship and betrayal, love and motherhood, which asks the question; how far would you go to protect your only child?

My Review: I was a little apprehensive when I started this as it sounded a little out of my comfort zone; however, I was more than pleasantly surprised. The story is told initially from a young 13 year old Diya’s point of view. The story starts out quite emotionally charged as the reader witnesses the horror that a young confused 13 year old experiences when her Mother is arrested and accused of abducting Diya when she was a baby. The first few chapters I found a little hard going as it seemed there was nothing other than a few confused ramblings of a confused young girl. Once I reached the halfway book those thoughts were long gone and I was loathed to put the book down.

D’Silva has created a wonderful read by creating layers that are slowly revealed as we learn slowly each person involved in their own element of the story. Diya’s mother Vani starts to reveal her own story much further into the book but as we see it revealed I thought I had it all figured out, to realise very quickly that I didn’t have the first clue. In addition to that we also meet Aarti who is battling her own demons. With each chapter that was written I felt myself being drawn into the story more and more.

With a heart-breaking story, wonderful characters and such raw emotion D’Silva had me hooked. A beautiful story that I think many people would love to read. Not an author I have come across before, but one that I will be looking at more closely in the future.