Book Review - Friend of the Family by Tasmina Perry - #HolidayReading Mexico

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Amazon UK

Title:  Friend of the Family

Author: Tasmina Perry

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Headline Review 

Publication Date: 16th May 2019

Rating: 4 Stars

She thinks your life is perfect. She thinks you don't deserve it.

Your job
Amy is more than happy to offer the daughter of an old friend work experience at her London magazine. Josie is young and ambitious. She just needs a foot in the door.

Your home
When Josie arrives, she swiftly makes herself indispensable at work and at home. And when childcare falls through before a long-awaited university reunion in Provence, it begins to look as if Josie may be staying longer than Amy had bargained for.

Your husband
In the heat of Provence, Josie's presence starts to unsettle Amy, especially around her husband. As cracks begin to appear in Amy's perfect life, she cannot shake the feeling that the family friend may not be a friend at all...

Don't miss this gripping, addictive read. It will make you think twice about who you invite into your home...

When Amy invites the daughter of an old friend of hers to do work experience at her magazine, little did she know her world was going to be turned upside down. 

Josie's arrival is the catalyst for a whole heap of disasters, and just shows you should never let a young girl who has stated she wants to be you, into your house!

Although that is simplifying it a bit, and there is far more too the book than just that, 

I liked how Amy's university times were interspersed into the present day, strengthening the readers bonds with all the characters by showing some of their shared history. 

From around the midway point, once I knew the characters, I found the plot picked up pace and it was at point I found myself really loving the book. 

I didn't see most of what was going to happen coming, so was pleased to be surprised greatly by the end. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The Pool House by Tasmina Perry

Amazon UK

Title: The Pool House

Author: Tasmina Perry

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Headline

Publication Date: 7th September 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

When you're invited to spend summer in the Hamptons with a group of new friends, you agree - who wouldn't? But then you realise you're taking the place of another woman, a woman who died in mysterious circumstances, just the summer before. Your housemates tell you her death was an accident. But which of them has something to hide?

I am delighted to say that this felt like Tasmina Perry back to her best, after the past couple of books that felt like a slight change of direction. This is classic Perry, with the summer in New York vibe, and specifically a cast of characters that are incredibly well off. 

The previous summer a girl died in a pool house in The Hamptons, the police recorded a verdict of accidental death. Fast forward to this summer and Jem and Nat are the new couple in the beach house share, and on their first weekend Jem hears about Alice’s death. She then meets the widowed husband, and starts to wonder just what happened. Jem also starts to work for a top thriller writer and ex investigative journalist, as his assistant, who also has an interest in the happenings of what exactly happened last summer. 

This is a book that had everything, it has secrets, lies, unfaithful couples, a cast of characters that seemed to mainly care about themselves, and all manner of theories as to what really happened to Alice. 
The book focuses on Nat and Jem, and their changing relationship as the summer progresses. However we also get sections of the book that are from the prior year, giving Alice’s perspective on the events that led up to her death. 

In some respects I really felt sorry for Alice, and in other as you read more of the book you start wondering if she really brought it all on herself. 

I really disliked most of the characters in the Hamptons house share, especially once more info about them comes to light, as the investigation continues. 

 The Pool House is a story of intrigue that had me wondering the whole time as to just what happened to Alice. There were plenty of subplots that were interesting, and I loved the familiar setting to The Hamptons and New York in summer.  

Thank you to Headline and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The House on Sunset Lake by Tasmina Perry

Amazon UK

Title: The House on Sunset Lake

Author: Tasmina Perry

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Headline

Publication Date: 23rd March 2017

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Casa D'Or, the mysterious plantation house on Sunset Lake, has been in the Wyatt family for over fifty years. Jennifer Wyatt returns there from university full of hope, as summer by the lake stretches ahead of her. Yet by the time it is over her heart will be broken, her family in tatters, her dreams long gone.

Twenty years later, Casa D'Or stands neglected, a victim of tragic events. Jennifer has closed the door on her past. Then Jim, the man she met and fell in love with that magical summer, comes back into her life, with a plan to return Casa D'Or to its former glory. Their reunion will stir up old ghosts for both of them, and reveal the dark secrets the house still holds close...

What an evocative story of romance, suspense, intrigue, secrets, family and a whole lot more, in a story spanning a twenty year gap.

The majority of the book is set around Casa D'Or on Sunset Lake, and is was great to see how this one house, could feature in so many key bits of two people's history.  For it is central to Jim and Jennifer's story both in 1994 and now in the present too. 

Some of the book is set in the 90s and the rest in the present, and I loved both parts of it, as together it tells you all about Jim, Jennifer, and their families, past and present.  It didn't take too long into the book for me to be gripped by the fabulous writing, and the story, while suspecting there would be some surprises along the way. 

Casa D'Or is in Savannah, Georgia, which is a part of the US that I haven't really encountered much in fiction before. With this book I got a great feel for the climate and feel for the area, even if my knowledge o the town doesn't really extend much past this property. 

But the book isn't just set in Savannah, there is also plenty in New York, and then there are some scenes on a Caribbean island, that I believe to be entirely fictional, but no less gorgeous than real life. 

I enjoyed seeing the contrast in how the years have treated Jim and Jennifer, from their younger ideals, to the man and women in their forties now. There are many parts of story that are hinted at, but its only in the last third or so where everything comes together and you see just how good and clever the majority of the book has been! 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The House on Sunset Lake, and its definitely a return to form for Tasmina Perry, although I do still prefer her big blockbuster books, this has some of the feel of one, with the destinations and intrigue, but was missing the lashings of sex! 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Headline for this copy which I have reviewed voluntarily and honestly. 

Book Review - The Last Kiss Goodbye by Tasmina Perry

Amazon UK

Title: The Last Kiss Goodbye

Author: Tasmina Perry

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Headline

Publication Date: 10th September 2015

Rating: 4 Stars

Everyone remembers their first kiss. 
You never forget the last . . .

1961. Bright-eyed young journalist Rosamund Bailey is determined to change the world. When she meets dashing explorer and man about town Dominic Blake, she realises she has found the love of her life. Just as happiness is in their grasp, the worst happens, and their future is snatched from them.

2014. Deep in the vaults of a museum, archivist Abby Morgan stumbles upon a breathtaking find. A faded, old photograph of an explorer saying goodbye to the woman he loves. Looking for a way to escape her own heartache, Abby becomes obsessed with the story behind the image. And when she finally meets the woman in the photograph, she unravels a devastating tale of love and loss. And a shocking secret buried in time...

I was slightly disappointed by this book.. not by writing which is fabulous, not even really by the story which I did enjoy, but by the fact Tasmina Perry has gone from writing glamorous blockbusters, to a different style of book, which although still had a mystery element, also had a historical element to it too, and I'm just not a fan of history.  I haven't read The Proposal yet, or I may have picked up on the change in sub-genre. 

That being said I did really enjoy The Last Kiss Goodbye, I much preferred the contemporary chapters of Abby's story, to some of Ros's chapters in the 60's. But yet you needed to know and feel properly for Ros, to fully understand and care about the mystery in this book. 

It is all about the story behind a photo that Abby finds while curating an exhibit about famous explorers. She finds a picture that she calls "The Last Kiss Goodbye" which is the star of the exhibition, and is a photo of explorer Dominic Blake kissing his fiancée Rosamund Bailey goodbye, before he went off on a fatal trip into the Amazon rainforest. 

During Rosamund's chapters we discover how Dominic and she meet, and the events that led up to that fateful day. During Abby's chapters we see a young lady who is having a tough time. She a few weeks previously had discovered her husband had cheated on her, and she becomes obsessed with this photo. She tracks down Ros, and decides to try and investigate into Dominic's disappearance and death, so Ros can get closure after all these years. 

The story flowed really well and the characterisation was brilliant. I suspect it was just me that's didn't really get on with part of a book set in the 60's at the time of the Cold War. There is though a very well described trip to France, and a fab trip to St. Petersburg, so although Tasmina Perry isn't writing about many exotic locales now, she still fits in a few great places. 

I found the end reveals to be gripping, but the ultimate surprise to be just slightly underwhelming. Although I didn't guess it, I found it just felt a little flat. That being said the last quarter of the book flew by without me noticing my surroundings. 

A very good book, by a fabulous author, that I loved. 

Thanks to Headline and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.