Her by Harriet Lane

YOU DON'T REMEMBER HER BUT SHE REMEMBERS YOU

The story opens up where we meet Emma who is a mother to young children, struggling to retain a shred of self-worth amid the dog-tired drudgery of domesticity. Sleek, chic, groomed and self-composed, Nina seems to embody everything that Emma craves. Married to a successful architect, she has a semi-independent 17-year-old daughter and a growing reputation as an artist.They live in the same north London neighbourhood, but Nina's circumstances are undeniably grander. When the hard-up Emma, who found a career in television incompatible with motherhood.  Nina reaches out to Emma. Flattered, Emma takes the supportive friendship at face value, taking umbrage at her husband Ben's flummoxed speculation at what the poised Nina might see in her.

As the story unfolds we see the seemingly innocent friendship slowly develops into a dangerous game of cat and mouse as Nina eases her way into Emma's life. Soon, it becomes clear that Nina wants something from the unwitting Emma - something that might just destroy her.

This book started off good but unfortunately I didn't like the ending. I also didn't like the way parts of the story were told from both the main characters, Emma & Nina, I found it very repetitive. I was gripped at the start, parts of the story were creepy & it reminded me of The hand That Rocks The Cradle but it definitely had potential to be a much better story.

Her is available on Kindle and from all good bookstores.

Bad Blood by Casey Kelleher

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review....

Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.

Bad Blood opens with a prologue back in 1990 where we are introduced to Harry Woods when he was a world famous boxer with the world at his feet and his pregnant wife who he adored.  Fast forward to the present day and his wife is dead, his four children have all grown up, and Harry one of London’s most infamous and feared gangsters. His estranged daughter Kelly comes back into his life with her waster of a husband Terry. His son Christopher whom is a boxer at present is totally out of control whilst Christopher’s brother Nathan is looking to take himself out of the family business and become legitimate, settling down with his girlfriend, Cassie. Harry’s youngest daughter Evie also returns home from boarding school.  This story is based around the family, Harry's family but I don't want to give away too much regarding the plot. We are introduced to alot of characters along the way throughout the book but not once did I get confused whilst reading this as they all have a story to tell and intermingle and connect with each other in one way or another.

This book is absolutely brilliant, it had me gripped from the first few pages right through to the end, there were some great twists and turns too.  I even had to slow down reading it as I didn't want it to end. It is a pretty gritty gangland book and parts and I did squirm through so it's definitely not for the fainthearted.  This is the first time that I've read a book by Casey Kelleher, I didn't just like it, I LOVED it and it definitely didn't disappoint.  I would definitely recommend this book.  I am really looking forward to Casey's next book already.

Bad Blood is available on Kindle & in all good bookshops.

COVER REVEAL - Introducing Charlotte by Charlotte Hains

Thanks to JB Johnson from Brook Cottage Books, I was given the opportunity to host the cover reveal for Introducing Charlotte for Thursday 22nd January.  It was released on Kindle on 14th January, please find the links attached below.

When Charlotte bumps into her old friend Anthony she is at her lowest...

Shocked by the revelation of her escape from a controlling and abusive relationship, Anthony enlists the help of Nats and Lloyd to help Charlotte find the confidence she once had. Charlotte is unaware, however, of the darker side of her friends’ lifestyle. And although Lloyd is deeply attracted to her, Charlotte is broken, hurt, and lacks control. As Lloyd sets to work coming up with unique ideas to bring Charlotte back to life, she is introduced to an intimate world of secret passions and desire.

BUY LINKS

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

This book is for readers 18+

 

ABOUT CHARLOTTE HAINS

Charlotte Hains left the UK for France after deciding she needed a change, taking on

the huge project of renovating a house. In the UK her life consisted of getting up,

going to work, coming home, going to bed, and just surviving. She now enjoys

French life within the community of the village in which she lives, and feels privileged

to be part of it. She describes her French neighbours as fantastic, offering her help in

every way they can, and says she might have given up long ago if they hadn’t been

With her house nearly finished she found herself with long nights and lots of thumb

twiddling, reading anything she could get on her iPad. In honesty, she admits it was

here that Fifty Shades of Grey caught her eye. Unbeknownst to her, her sister was

reading it as well. Her sister thought that, because Charlotte has such a creative

side, maybe she’d be able to write a book too. As a joke, Charlotte emailed her sister

her stories, also written on her iPad. She researched blogs and BDSM sites on the

internet, and so Introducing Charlotte came alive. Before she knew it, Charlotte had

over 150,000 words which she’d sent by email in instalments to her sister, and there

was more than enough for a book...or maybe even two!

http://www.pinterest.com/misschains0957/   

https://twitter.com/CharlotteHains

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00RGUADCM

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005908605913

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Introducing-Charlotte/580606475393270?ref=hl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgo7EEP9CQM

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmKbCjVD_MmIAHf0uow8FCA  

http://bookbzz.com/introducing-charlotte-charlotte-hains/   

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10781369.Charlotte_Hains

http://beezeebooks.com/introducing-charlotte-charlotte-hains/romance-and-adventure/ 

http://pnpauthorspattimariandpeter.ning.com/profile/CharlotteHains  

http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=16318

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

I'd heard so much about this book and so many people where talking about it in the last few months, even my fellow book blogger Margaret Madden was raving about it that I decided to pick up a copy of it last week and I am so glad that I did and started it straight away.

The story starts where we meet Maud, an aging grandmother, whom has dementia and is slowly losing her memory and her grip on everyday life. She refuses to forget her best friend Elizabeth, whom she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger. Equipped with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend but no one will listen to Maud - not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth’s temperamental son, Peter.

This story is set in two time frames - Maud's past and the present day. The singular obsession of Maud finding Elizabeth forms a cornerstone of Maud’s rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II.

As vivid memories of a tragedy that occurred more fifty years ago come flooding back, Maud discovers new momentum in her search for her friend. Could the mystery of Sukey’s disappearance hold the key to finding Elizabeth?

This was a very bittersweet & heart-warming read, the story flows well throughout the book. Parts of the story even reduced me to tears, it's heart-breaking, funny and such a warm novel.  I really loved Emma's book which I read in a couple of days, it kept me turning the pages until the very end. This story had it all love, life, family, to been humorous at times to the more sensitive issue of dementia - I found I had a little tear in my eye at the end along with shedding a few along the way, so grab this book, curl up on the couch and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too.  It definitely didn't disappoint and I'd highly recommend it.

Elizabeth is Missing is available on Kindle and from all good bookstores.

The Two of Us by Andy Jones

Thanks to LoveReading.co.uk, I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

"Falling in love is the easy part.  What matters most is what happens next..."

The story opens where we meet Fisher & Ivy who are in a relationship.  Fisher is a director & Ivy's a make-up artist.  Although, they are only together 19 days but they know that they are just meant to be together or are they?  The fact that they know little else about each other is a minor detail.  We will follow their journey over the next 12 months to see how things will pan out for them, their lives will change forever but will it be for better or for worse?

The Two of Us has been compared to both The Rosie Project & US, popular books from the last few months.  However, I  haven't read either of these books so I went in with an open mind and I loved it.  This was a very bittersweet & heart-warming read, the story flows well throughout the book. Parts of the story even reduced me to tears, it's heart-breaking, funny and such a warm novel.  I really enjoyed Andy's book which I read in a couple of days, it kept me turning the pages until the very end. This story had it all a little bit of humor, love, family, learning to not take each other for granted, to more sensitive issues - I found I had a little tear in my eye at the end along with shedding a few along the way, so grab this book, curl up on the couch and prepare to have a few lump in your throat moments too.  It definitely didn't disappoint.

The Two of Us by Andy Jones is published by Simon and Schuster on Kindle on 12 February 2015, the paperback version is published on 7 May 2015.

Afraid by Mandasue Heller

Thanks to Bookbridgr, I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review...

Where do you turn to if you can't trust anyone?

Mandasue Heller's thrilling new novel is set on the gritty streets of Manchester. We meet fifteen-year-old Skye, who's life has just been turned upside down when her mother finally does something so shocking that it can't be hushed up, the police have turned her over to the social workers. She doesn't know if her father is alive or dead; the woman who is supposed to be helping her dumps her in a terrifying 'home' that's more like a jail. But she still has one friend to turn to: the sympathetic girl she's met in an internet chat room, the one who seems to have a home life as unhappy as Skye's, Jade in turn offers her a safe place to stay but is it all as it seems or is there something more sinister awaiting her? Alone in Manchester, nearly penniless, Skye is willing to trust Jade. Even when it isn't Jade who turns up at the rendezvous, but a grown-up man who says he's Jade's brother and this is when her nightmare begins.


This book is absolutely brilliant, it had me gripped from the first few pages right through to the end, there were some great twists and turns too.  I even had to slow down reading it as I didn't want it to end. The story does cover alot of subjects and situations which we're all too familiar with on a daily basis, from bullying, online grooming, violence to paedophilia, whether it's on the news or in the papers, this story was near enough to real life. It is a pretty gritty book and parts and I did squirm through so it's definitely not for the fainthearted.  This is the first time that I've read a book by Mandasue Heller, I didn't just like it, I LOVED it and it definitely didn't disappoint.  I would definitely recommend this book.  I know that his book will stick in my memory longer than most because of the subject matter.  I am really looking forward to Mandasue's next book already. 

Afraid is available on Kindle & in all good bookshops in Hardback.