5* review: My Husband's Wife - Jane Corry

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

When lawyer Lily marries Ed, she's determined to make a fresh start. To leave the secrets of the past behind.

But then she meets Joe. A convicted murderer who reminds Lily of someone she once knew, and who she becomes obsessed with freeing.

But is he really innocent?

And who is she to judge?

Lily and Ed are recently married and not getting on as well as Lily would like, Ed is distant and displaying his artistic temperament a little too much for her liking. She is a defence lawyer and facing the task of proving herself in a particularly difficult case, representing convicted murderer, Joe Thomas, a man with a strange and addictive personality who reminds Lily of her late brother, Daniel. There are more secrets in that closet!

They live next door to Francesca and daughter Carla. They are Italian and Carla is frequently bullied for standing out and being very different to the other children. Her mother has two jobs, one seemingly more moral than the other, and does not give Carla too much of her time (although Carla clearly adores her) so is grateful when Lily and Ed take to babysitting her on Sundays. Something that will see their lives permanently interwoven and not in a positive way. 

Lily discovers Francesca's secret and shatters little Carla's life apart.

When Carla rediscovers them as an adult and sees their life through mature eyes she realises they were not the couple she first thought, and implements the plan she has been devising.

My Husband's Wife really is a good, multidimensional story to sink your teeth into. I was very quickly hooked by the alternating chapters narrated by Lily and Carla, and was endeared to Carla as a child, until a different side of her started to appear.

It really shines upon the fact of good and bad in people and who is the judge of who is what? Each of the characters has a balanced blend of both and I found myself liking characters I didn't think I should (Joe Thomas!).

Safe to say this is an excellent, dark psychological tale and one that I will enjoy rereading time and again.

Many thanks to the publishers for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

5* review: After the Lie by Kerry Fisher

Available to preorder/buy from Amazon.co.uk

A perfect wife. A perfect life. A dangerous secret ... 

Lydia counts herself lucky. She’s married to a decent man, Mark, who she still loves and even though her teenagers test her patience she’s pretty proud of them. She knows she’s fortunate. She’s grateful. Especially when her mum, who, unlike Mark, knows what happened in her past, constantly reminds her how different things could have been … 

Because the truth is that Mark has no idea who he is really married to – Lydia has been living a lie for years. She did something terrible when she was young, that forced her family to start a new life elsewhere, and she can’t let Mark and the children find out about it. So when Sean, the person who knows all of Lydia’s dark little secrets, turns up at the school gates, his presence threatens to blow Lydia’s life apart. 

What is Lydia’s terrible truth? Once the secret is out, you can’t put it back … 

A powerful and heartbreaking story, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain 

Lydia is a mother in her early forties, successful business woman and supportive wife. They live in Surrey in a nice house and the children go to an expensive private school, she has the perfect life?

She floats along like the swan and is paddling like fury underneath, especially when Sean moves to the area - the man that could blow apart her life by revealing something they did as teenagers that could have been reasonably innocuous but changed the course of Lydia's family's lives forever. And it is something that Lydia's husband and children know nothing about.

While reading this wonderful book I got so involved that when an integral part of the story came up I actually dropped a swear word when realising that Lydia's life was about the unravel and felt her panic as though it was inside me.

Fisher hooks you firmly into the character's lives with her perceptive wit and perfect descriptions of normal family life with teenagers. Experiencing the fears of the social media generation where a photograph can travel hundreds of miles around thousands of people in minutes and will be there forever and explores the minefield that is teenage relationships.

I loved her writing style back with The Island Escape last summer and it has only got better.

I adored and empathised with Lydia's character, loved her supportive husband Mark and wanted to batter her interfering, judgemental mother who I softened a little towards by the end of the book, and a huge mention to her wonderful father who would clearly do anything to protect his daughter.

This is a fantastic book to get your teeth into, I read this in two long sittings I was so gripped.

A huge...

Review: The Trouble With Words - Suzie Tullett

The Trouble with Words by Suzie Tullett is available on Amazon:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trouble-Words-Suzie-Tullett-ebook/dp/B0153VEIFI/

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Words-Suzie-Tullett-ebook/dp/B0153VEIFI/

Amazon EU: http://www.amazon.de/Trouble-Words-Suzie-Tullett-ebook/dp/B0153VEIFI/

Having long made a promise to her husband, young widow Annabel has no intentions of breaking it. What she does plan to do, though, is have a baby. Not the easiest of tasks for a woman with a deceased other half, and having explored all her options, her only choice is to take the unconventional route. Setting out to find her own donor, Annabel meets Dan. Single, fun-loving and definitely not looking for commitment, this unruly blonde, blue-eyed man seems perfect for the job.

Dan wants nothing more than to find his dream woman. But with a mother intent on sabotaging his every relationship, he can't help but think he's destined to remain single. Of course, he knows his mother doesn't really want him all for herself, why else would she keep insisting he meet Maeve? Why else would she insist Dan promise to find himself a wife before she meets her maker?

Forced to negotiate matters of love, life and death, Annabel and Dan seem the answer to each other's prayers. But will they really be able to keep the promises they made? And is having a baby really the solution?

I was delighted when Suzie Tullett asked me if I would like to review her latest book, The Trouble with Words, as I have been a fan of hers since her first novel, Going Underground and I knew I was not to be disappointed.

The story opens with Annabel breaking the news to her husband that she would like a baby, in not the most conventional way. I really felt for her as I was reading and was straight away drawn to her character, and as the story progresses we meet Dan and his mum Gerry. She is desperate for Dan to find himself a wife but she needed to be sure it was the right woman for him, and she was determined to be instrumental in him doing so!

Dan and Annabel seem perfect for each other - if only they would realise it! With both of them having their own trials that seem more important than the dating game, things seem that they will pass them by, but fate steps in to ensure this does not happen. 

There are some really sad, properly tear jerking moments throughout the book, all beautifully written and sincere enough to make you think you are in the room with the characters, and there are plenty of laugh out loud moments to lighten the mood along the way (my favourite being the skateboard lesson - read the book and you'll see!). The ending was poignant, satisfying and well written, as was the whole book. I find Tullett a master of writing believable dialogue that is read in your mind just as you would hear someone speaking it. The characters are well developed and seem to really grown in strength throughout the story, Gerry being my favourite - she definitely deserves Fictional Mother of the Year!

Congratulations to Tullett on providing another well written, perfectly researched and entertaining tale.

Many thanks to Hanna Oliwa at http://safkhetpublishing.com/ for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review. 

More about the author:

Website: http://suzietullett.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzietullett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzie-Tullett-Author/221204154583599?fref=ts

5* review - No Place to Hide - Susan Lewis

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

Why has Justine Cantrell suddenly changed her name, abandoned the husband and family she loves and a successful business to start a new life in a place many thousands of miles away? 

There isn't a man involved, but there is a terrible secret that she must hide from her new friends and neighbours as securely as she needs to hide herself from those she's left behind. 

What is Justine's secret?

I am a huge fan of Susan Lewis but No Place to Hide blew me away, it has to, for me, go down as her best yet!

Justine is on the run from something, that much is clear. Settling in a quiet US town which she has distant links to from her past, with her small daughter she is extremely keen that no-one must know her secrets.

The book flicks back and forth to Justine's past, living in the UK with loving husband Matt and their two, then, small children, Ben and Abby. They seem to have it all; successful careers, a beautiful house and an enviable lifestyle.

About halfway into the book Justine's secret is revealed, and boy - is it huge! I was so shocked I had to re-read the chapter twice. It intensifies the story as Justine becomes forced to let her two worlds collide, and face the consequences.

I loved every part of this book and in so many ways likened it to a good Diane Chamberlain novel (another one of my favourites). The plot was tight, compelling and had real flow. The characters likeable and believable, I really felt for Justine's character and wanted her to find her happily-ever-after!

I couldn't recommend this more! A huge 5*!

Review copy kindly provided by the publisher via Netgalley

5* review - Appleby Farm by Cathy Bramley

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

Freya Moorcroft has wild red hair, mischievous green eyes, a warm smile and a heart of gold. She’s been happy working at the café round the corner from Ivy Lane allotments and her romance with her new boyfriend is going well, she thinks, but a part of her still misses the beautiful rolling hills of her Cumbrian childhood home: Appleby Farm.

Then a phone call out of the blue and a desperate plea for help change everything…

The farm is in financial trouble, and it’s taking its toll on the aunt and uncle who raised Freya. Heading home to lend a hand, Freya quickly learns that things are worse than she first thought. As she summons up all her creativity and determination to turn things around, Freya is surprised as her own dreams for the future begin to take shape.

Love makes the world go round, according to Freya. Not money. But will saving Appleby Farm and following her heart come at a price?

How I love Cathy Bramley, and how pleased I was to realise that some of my favourite Ivy Lane characters would be popping up in Appleby Farm, and that it was centered around Freya Moorcroft who we had met in the latter half of Ivy Lane.

Freya works in the cafe around the corner from the Ivy Lane allotments, it's just a cover job, as much of Freya's employment seems to be. She feels that she has never really settled anywhere, even though she is now in a relationship with Charlie which she thought was going swimmingly until he breaks it to her that it's just 'a bit of fun' and seems quite unwilling to introduce her to his young son.

When she receives a phone call from her Auntie Sue saying that her Uncle Arthur has had an accident while driving his tractor she is devastated. She jumps on the next train to be with them and help out while her uncle is laid up. When she arrives there she feels guilty that her aunt and uncle have aged considerably, she realises this is due to the fact that she has not visited anywhere near as much as she should have in the past few years.

While she is there she feels the comfort of home, as she has always looked upon the farm as, and wonders whether there is anything really to return back to Kingsfield for.
As she contemplates her decision she uncovers a troubling secret and a catastrophe that puts the future of Appleby Farm in jeopardy.

Freya puts her thinking cap on to try and save her childhood home and the family who virtually raised her, she draws on every resource she can, until she can go no further and has to take the leap of contacting her parents who she has always vowed never to go cap in hand to, but when needs must...

Family tensions run high, especially when Freya's (vile) brother appears on the scene and threatens all the hard work that Freya has achieved, but the rekindled friendship with her childhood bestie Harry proves just the tonic that Freya needs.

I adored watching bubbly Freya return to her childhood home and her lovely Aunty Sue and Uncle Arthur, and watching her character develop from the lost soul she seemed to be in the very beginning - or even further back for those who have read Ivy Lane where she first featured working in the cafe. 

Appleby Farm is beautifully touching and vibrant, all told with Cathy's wonderful, warm sense of humour. I loved the family ethos at Appleby Farm, how fences are mended (physically and metaphorically) and how Tilly Parker (Ivy Lane) celebrated her beautiful wedding at Freya's beautiful vintage tearooms which was described so perfectly I felt I was a guest looking on, with obligatory tears in my eyes.

A perfect feel-good read!

Follow the rest of the tour here:

The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop - Abby Clements

Buy here on Amazon.co.uk

Anna and her husband Matteo are ready to embark a delicious Italian adventure. After a year and a half running their ice cream shop on Brighton beach and raising their baby Isabella, Matteo is starting to miss Italy. A shared passion for ices means it's easy to settle on a new business idea - they'll open a shop in Sorrento's cobbled square, a short walk from the sparkling blue sea. For a while, life is sweet; but then Matteo's overbearing family get involved …

Anna's younger sister Imogen feels like things are finally coming together - she's living with boyfriend Finn in a beach house in Brighton, and her photography is taking off. Then her career stalls, and the lure of Capri - and a man from her past - prove difficult to resist. 

I am a huge fan of Abby Clements' books so I knew I was in for a summery treat when reading this latest offering. It did not disappoint.

We pick up on Imogen and Anna's life from her book Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop but worry not, if you haven't read it then it is very easy to pick up on who's who and it's a perfectly good standalone read. It will make you want to go back and find out where the family's story began though. They are running their late grandmother's ice cream shop on Brighton sea front and making a huge success of it. Imogen is trying to pursue her photography career though so it is Anna and husband Matteo that run the day-to-day side of the business...and very well too. 

Their baby, Bella comes along and her arrival makes Matteo yearn for his life and family back in Italy, and after some soul searching and research they find the perfect gelateria in Sorrento. The small family relocate leaving Anna's family behind in the UK where secrets from the past are revealed changing someone's life. 

Imogen and Finn are also having problems as Imo feels that things are becoming too serious and she feels unable to settle down while her thirst to travel is still unquenched. This threatens to blow their relationship and stability apart.

I loved to be back with the McAvoys again and this book's setting in the gorgeous Sorrento was a beautiful, summery escape. It is well written with a gentle plot that will leave you fulfilled and entertained with a really lovely ending. A perfect holiday read.

Cover Reveal! Wickham Hall Part One - Hidden Treasures by Cathy Bramley

Wickham Hall Cover reveal June 9 2015

I’m so excited about the launch of my new series Wickham Hall this month; it introduces a brand new set of characters and a beautiful new setting in a stately home just outside Stratford-upon–Avon. It’s a story of love and friendship, family secrets and heartache and ultimately learning to love life and live for the moment! I’ve packed the story full of my favourite things such as the English countryside, exquisite gardens (including topiary – I adore topiary!), weddings, summer festivals, lots of tea and cake, bonfires and Christmas parties!

The series will be published digitally in four parts this year and then in a complete novel both digitally and in paperback in 2016:

Wickham Hall Part One – Hidden Treasures 25 June

Wickham Hall Part Two – Summer Secrets 23 July

Wickham Hall Part Three – Sparks Fly 24 September

Wickham hall Part Four – White Christmas 26 November

Here’s the blurb!

Holly Swift has just landed the job of her dreams: events co-ordinator at Wickham Hall, the beautiful manor home that sits proudly at the heart of the village where she grew up. Not only does she get to organise for a living and work in stunning surroundings, but it will also put a bit of distance between Holly and her problems at home.

Holly loves the busy world of Wickham Hall - from family weddings to summer festivals, firework displays and Christmas grottos. But life isn't as easily organised as an event at Wickham Hall (and even those have their complications...). Can Holly learn to let go and live in the moment?

After all, that's when the magic happens...

Cathy Bramley Bio

Cathy is the author of the best-selling romantic comedies Ivy Lane, Appleby farm and Conditional Love. She lives in a small Nottinghamshire village with her husband, two teenage daughters and Pearl, the Cockerpoo.

Her recent career as a full-time writer of light-hearted romantic fiction has come as somewhat of a lovely surprise after spending eighteen years running her own marketing agency. However, she has always been an avid reader, hiding her book under the duvet and reading by torchlight. Luckily her husband has now bought her a Kindle with a light, so that’s the end of all that palaver.

Cathy loves to hear from her readers. You can get in touch via her Facebook page or on Twitter.

Amazon Link (either one - they are the same):

Wickham Hall Part One Hidden Treasures

Or: amzn.to/1EVZNib

The Other Child - Lucy Atkins

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

Sometimes a lie seems kinder than the truth ... but what happens when that lie destroys everything you love?.

When Tess is sent to photograph Greg, a high profile paediatric heart surgeon, she sees something troubled in his face, and feels instantly drawn to him. Their relationship quickly deepens, but then Tess, single mother to nine-year-old Joe, falls pregnant, and Greg is offered the job of a lifetime back in his hometown of Boston. Before she knows it, Tess is married, and relocating to the States. But life in an affluent American suburb proves anything but straightforward.

Unsettling things keep happening in the large rented house. Joe is distressed, the next-door neighbours are in crisis, and Tess is sure that someone is watching her. Greg's work is all-consuming and, as the baby's birth looms, he grows more and more unreachable. Something is very wrong, Tess knows it, and then she makes a jaw-dropping discovery...

Relocating while pregnant from the UK to the US, with her new husband and her small son from her first marriage, Tess finds the move to Boston stressful, especially as her husband is so work driven - but with his super high powered job as a paediatric surgeon he has no choice but to drop everything and do mercy missions to the hospital.

Tess is finding it difficult to settle in though as strange things begin to happen in her new home (which she never did truly warm to), the neighbours are stand offish and peculiar and she is unsure of the different social codes she's meant to adhere to in the affluent suburb - but the very worst is the female that she finds standing outside her house staring in, posting chilling notes. The safety of her family is threatened and Tess needs to find out why.

I was hooked from the beginning with The Other Child, I found it very easy to get in to and it is not long before things start to unravel for Tess which ensures that you keep turning the pages. It was a very gripping and well written plot, lots of secrets and lies that don't add up - which Nell, Tess' best friend back home in England begins to press her to investigate as it all becomes very clear all is not well.

I liked Tess' character and found myself rooting for her from the start, I also loved her son, Joe, and the relationship between he and his father. The ending did not play out quite how I was expecting, but it was still a satisfying and enjoyable read.

Review copy kindly provided by Quercus books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

5* Review: The Day We Disappeared - Lucy Robinson

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

Annie has a secret. But if she's not going to tell, we won't either. It's a heart-breaking secret she wishes she didn't have - yet Annie isn't broken, not quite yet. Especially now there's someone out there who seems determined to fix her.

Kate has run away. But she's not going to tell us why - that would defeat the point of running, wouldn't it? It's proving difficult to reinvent herself, however, with one person always on her mind.

Scratch beneath the surface and nobody is really who they seem. Even Annie and Kate, two old friends, aren't entirely sure who they are any more. Perhaps you can work it out, before their pasts catch up with them for good . . .

Firstly, I think I may have found a really strong contender for the best book I will read this year. It may only be April, but when you know...

Now I'm not normally one who manages to keep a secret, so I will say very little as this little book holds some big secrets. I expected twists so unfortunately I kept anticipating what they would be and coming up with outlandish theories, please be more grown up than me when reading and don't let it spoil your enjoyment of this fantastic piece of writing, and very clever it is!

What wonderful protagonists we have in Kate and Annie, both are fragile characters, both guarding secrets and one very much on the run from something. The tale is told alternating between the two, and with wonderful supporting characters, my favourite being Becca who is just so funny, yet caring and a wonderful friend. I loved the fact that Kate found solace working as a junior groom in a stable yard (even if she didn't know the first thing about horses), I love the description of the horses and in particular the lovely, gorgeous, wonderful Stumpy. The backstory of Annie's life really is tragic, dark and difficult to imagine but her family and her close friends, Le cloob (an homage to her French friend Claudine who can only possibly eat in French restaurants) are just incredibly wonderful.

That really is as much of the story as I am willing to share for the fear of dropping a clanger and revealing spoilers, but please do read this as I'm certain you will not be disappointed!

I love Lucy Robinson's storytelling. I adore the voice she gives her characters, and her humour really is second to none. 

That Girl From Nowhere - Dorothy Koomson

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

‘Where are you coming from with that accent of yours?’ he asks.
‘Nowhere,’ I reply. ‘I’m from nowhere.’
‘Everyone’s from somewhere,’ he says.
‘Not me,’ I reply silently.

Clemency Smittson was adopted as a baby and the only connection she has to her birth mother is a cardboard box hand-decorated with butterflies. Now an adult, Clem decides to make a drastic life change and move to Brighton, where she was born. Clem has no idea that while there she'll meet someone who knows all about her butterfly box and what happened to her birth parents.

As the tangled truths about her adoption and childhood start to unravel, a series of shocking events cause Clem to reassess whether the price of having contact with her birth family could be too high to pay...

Clemency (Smitty), was adopted not long after birth with nothing other that a box decorated with butterflies to link her to her birth mother (the tradition/tale behind this box is captivating). After a painful breakup and while still grieving the death of her adoptive father, who throughout the book we see was a wonderful, caring man, she decides to pack up her life and move to the town she was born, Brighton, with the view of carrying on her jewellery making business. Her somewhat domineering mother decides, without invitation, to move with her. Clemency is certain the agenda behind this is to make sure she does not try to trace her birth family, which she has promised her adoptive mother she will never do. But a chance meeting sees that the decision is taken from Smitty's hands, and this starts a chain of events which changes everything in Smitty's life.

True to form Koomson tackles a variety of sensitive issues with care, making them as believable as they are hard hitting. I found looking deeply into Smitty's life and feelings interesting, how she perceived herself and the world around her, the feeling of being unwanted. not finding a place she belonged. The family dynamics of both her natural and adoptive family were especially fascinating, although I'm not sure I cared for any of her family members much - especially the deplorable cousin Nancy. So much jealousy, betrayal and deception goes on behind closed doors.

As always Koomson has a fabulous knack of writing an engaging tale with interesting twists and natural and in parts humorous dialogue, so many times I had to remind myself I was not reading someone's memoirs. I particularly enjoyed the vivid description of Smitty's many photographs on her wall (a collection of her most important life memories), and it has inspired me to get a 'real' camera to take photos over the summer and be able to have them in my hands instantly. 

Fans of Dorothy Koomson will devour this and it will make fans of new readers.